Stage On!
by Ash-X7
Summary: AU. Usagi Tsukino, the lead vocalist for the world best music group, Blue Moon, was sent into a parallel universe where it promised her that she'd meet her true love. Instead, she got forced into forming a new band with a boy who stole her first kiss?
1. Stage 1: New World

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A/N: The story you are about to read is a strict Seiya X Usagi dedication. If you are not a supporter of the pairing, I'll advise you not to read it. Of course, you are still welcome to browse through despite not liking the couple. But, I've already warned you. So, don't get all touchy over what I've wrote. And for all Seiya X Usagi fans and my faithful readers, I'll be more than happy if you'd enjoy the story. Thank you!

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Summary: Stage On! revolved around Usagi Tsukino who was the lead vocalist for the world best music band, Blue Moon, although she was also known to be unable to sing or write love songs despite having perfect pitch ability. However, when a sudden change of fate sent her into a parallel universe where it promised her that she'd meet her true love, Usagi found herself trapped in an unfamiliar world and forced to live a life of a normal high school girl instead. To make matter worse, she was lured into forming a new band with Seiya Kou, a highly talented musician who stole her first kiss? It seemed like things would only get even more complicated… _Pairing: Seiya-Usagi-Taiki, Minako-Yaten-Luna, Haruka-Michiru…_

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* * *

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Stage 1: New World

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_8…_

_7…_

_6…_

_5…_

_4…_

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

_Stage On…_

Rays of various colored lights zoomed in onto the grand stage, lighting up the large indoor stadium. Soon, over ten thousands fans erupted as they watched their idols getting raised up to the platform one at the time.

At the moment when the red spotlight cast on the drummer, Rei Hino, she held up her drum sticks, beating them together three times to set the rhythm before striking down and crashing onto the crash cymbal. The blast produced shook the stadium while Makoto ran her fingers through the keyboard, creating a wave of timbre. The girls screamed when the spotlights shone down on the two guitarists, Mamoru and Saphir, as they amplified the stage with a harmony of fill passage and chords. Soon, the lights died down by a little and the band slowed their pace to suit the dim atmosphere.

"Usagi! Usagi! Usagi!" The audience chanted.

Suddenly, a huge strike of lighting crashed in to the centre stage before a girl, who had her long, blonde hair styled up into two tiny buns, jumped out from the explosion. The audience went crazy at the surprise appearance of their favorite lead vocalist, Usagi Tsukino. She was dressed in a stylish off-shoulder dress that split open at its front ends to show off her short, fluffy mini-skirt, and a matching pair of fashionable high-heel boots. Like usual, she had stolen the limelight with just her dazzling appearance alone.

The audience began screaming her name again as Usagi made her way to the front stage. Stopping inside the large circle of light, she placed the tip of her finger to her lips and hushed. Her fans obediently quieted down and she winked back at them as an reward. But as soon as she reached out for the microphone stand that had just ascended before her, the crowd went wild again.

Usagi grabbed the mic easily with a smile before bringing it close to her lips.

"Konbanwa mina-san! Blue Moon desu!! (Good evening everyone! This is Blue Moon!!)" She announced her band's name and extended her free hand out to the audience before turning back to face her band mates with a smile.

"Let's set the Stage On!"

That night, her angelic voice together with the powerful blast of music created by the band conquered not just the stage, but also the entire world.

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* * *

--

Months later…

At a private resort not too far away from the city area stayed the members of the Blue Moon. As the drum beats within the soundproof room began to slow down, the rest of the musicians stopped playing their parts and turned over to look at their drummer with a sigh.

"I give up! We have been practicing for the whole afternoon! And to even think we actually came here for a vacation! Please, I need my break!" Rei grumbled.

Saphir shook his head at her as he put down his bass guitar, "You should know how tight our schedule is, Rei. We have a MV to do by the end of next week, so we only have these few days to finish up with our new album… Can't you just bear with it for a while more?"

"And how much longer do I have to bear?" Rei sighed, giving him a tired look.

Saphir shrugged, "That depends on how many live performances we'll have to do after the debut of our 3rd album… let's see… maybe, another year or more…"

"What? More than a year?!" Rei burst out, dropping her drum sticks.

"Stop stressing her out, will you?" Mamoru frowned at Saphir.

"You're forgetting something, Mamoru. Our Rei is the best drummer out there. No one can outplay her, let alone stress her." Saphir corrected.

"That doesn't mean I don't need a break!" Rei argued.

Makoto banged the keyboards with her fingers, drawing everyone's attention towards her as she sighed tiredly at them. "Quarrelling isn't going to help anyone. All of you will be just wasting your breath. And, I agree we should take a ten minutes break."

"And in the meantime, we can check on how Usagi is progressing with the lyrics." Rei suggested.

But before she could even come a foot close to the door, Mamoru grabbed her by the shoulder from behind, stopping her from exiting the room. Rei turned around and raised her brows at him questionably as he shook his head at her.

"Asking Usako to write a love song is already a huge challenge for her. We shouldn't be disturbing her…"

Rei gave him an unenthusiastic look, murmuring, "You are spoiling her, Mamoru. I bet she's slacking now like how she always does."

Saphir nodded, "I agree with Rei. We should actually help her out for a bit."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Makoto asked before adding thoughtfully, "Even if we were to complete the lyrics for her, she won't be able to remember the lines long enough. So, we can just forget about asking her to express her feeling and sing it thoroughly."

Rei sighed, "She has perfect pitch yet she can't even sing a single love song? Seriously, this sounds so ridiculous no matter how many times we mention it."

--

"_Perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch (AP), was the ability of a person to recognize or recreate a musical note without external reference." – Story information._

--

"That's because she's incredibly dense and got no experience in love. Someone ought to do something about this…" Saphir hinted, looking over at Mamoru.

"I'm not good at lyrics composing." Mamoru replied plainly.

"I'm telling you to confess to Usagi, damn it! If you do that, I'm sure we can finally include our first ever love single in the next Blue Moon's album."

"Yea!" Rei and Makoto agreed and gave each other a high-five.

Mamoru shook his head, "Forget it. It isn't going to work."

"It will work!" Rei stressed. "We all know you love Usagi. How many more years are you going to hide your feelings from her? Just confess to her already."

"Yes, and make her fall for you… maybe then she will be able to sing some love songs." Makoto added convincingly.

"Good plan girls!" Saphir agreed, ignoring Mamoru's objection as he started to push him toward the door much to his reluctance.

Forcibly, the three of them took him to Usagi's room, opened the door, threw him in, and shut the door behind him. Mamoru stumbled inside and was partially disappointed that Usagi wasn't taking her usual nap. Instead, she was sitting by the desk with a guitar in her hands, clearly awake. She immediately turned to face him with a curious smile.

"Momo-chan? What makes you come over?"

"We are having our break now, so I thought I should check on you and see if I could help you with anything." Mamoru told her awkwardly, his hand already on the doorknob, pulling it with all his might but it wouldn't budge.

He frowned at the door, realizing that his friends were pulling against him on the other side so he couldn't open it and leave the room without confessing to Usagi. He gave up trying and turned back to face Usagi only to find her staring at him with her pair of touching blue eyes.

"You are willing to help me even though you aren't good at writing lyrics? I'm so fortunate to have you as my friend, Momo-chan."

Friend? Something about that term just didn't seem to fit what Mamoru was feeling towards her. He didn't like the sound of it but Usagi was clearly oblivious over whatever he was feeling or thinking right now. She blinked innocently at him as he took in a deep breath and held her firmly by the shoulders so she was staring at him in the eyes.

"Actually, I'm here because there's something important that I need to tell you…"

"Yes, what is it?" Usagi smiled innocently, ready to hear anything out from her friend.

At least she considered him as a friend. She wasn't aware of how he felt towards her despite he had always treated her nicer than anyone else from the moment they got to know each other in the music industry.

Mamoru turned serious. His eyes slid shut as he drew in one last breath. He had to do this. He had to express the one feeling he had been hiding for so many years out before it consumed him.

"I've always wanted to tell you this… but I couldn't find the chance to… and now, it's the right moment for me to say this, I… I love you…"

Mamoru finished and kept his eyes closed in anticipation for a sound of disgust, a sigh, an apology, something, but all he heard was soft giggles coming from Usagi. He snapped his eyes open in surprise, his heart fluttered in belief that she loved him too.

She looked back at him with a happy smile, exclaiming, "Thank you, Momo-chan! I'm so grateful for your help."

Mamoru blinked in surprise, "Help?"

Usagi nodded keenly, "Hai! That few lines fix perfectly well into the lyrics. Thank you for coming all the way here to tell me this. But, I'm really surprised! Since when did you become such a good lyricist? Who did you learn it from?"

While Mamoru stared speechlessly back at Usagi, the door swung open suddenly as the trio on the outside fell into the room in defeat at what they had just overheard.

Usagi turned and waved cheerily to her friends, "Hey, hey! Momo-chan had just thought of a few good lines for our song! Everyone should hear him out."

"We have already heard it!" They shrieked together.

"Oh, you already did? It's really good, isn't it? We can use it for our next single!" Usagi smiled happily as Mamoru sighed and released her.

"You stupid Usagi! Does anything else ever cross your mind besides song writing and singing?! How the hell can you be so dense and stupid?" Rei yelled at her best friend.

"Why are you scolding me all of the sudden?! You are being so unreasonable, Rei!" Usagi retorted.

"I'm unreasonable?! You're the unreasonable one here! Do you know how much you have hurt Mamo-…"

Rei stopped at her mid sentence when she felt Mamoru patting her on the shoulder, gesturing her to stop arguing with Usagi. She glowered at Usagi for one last time before turning over to Mamoru, telling him. "Sorry, Mamoru. I swear I'll bring her to the hospital and get her brain check tomorrow… Her lack of intelligence is to be blame…"

"You are the one who should get your brain check, you bad-tempered drummer!" Usagi retorted, pointing her finger at Rei.

"What did you say?!" Rei flared back.

While both Makoto and Saphir shook their heads at the dispute set before them, Mamoru sighed tiredly not knowing what else he could do to make Usagi noticed his feeling for her. He thought through the matters for a moment, finally deciding that it didn't matter if she didn't love him as much as she loved singing. With Blue Moon ridiculous popularity and demand from the society, he was sure that he could spend the rest of his life with her and the band, definitely not foreseeing the shocking event that would happen a day after.

--

As promised, Rei took Usagi out the following day, but the two of them ended up in an ancient shrine instead of the hospital. Even though they weren't intending to visit the prehistoric place, they were left with no other choice but to step foot into its ground after they got separated from the others while getting chased by the fans and paparazzi.

"I'm going to leave you behind if you don't hurry up, Rei!" Usagi shouted and waved to her friend when she reached the top of the hill where the shrine was located.

"You are such an expert at running, Usagi. Where did you get all your stamina and haste from?" Rei grumbled as she climbed the stone stairs breathlessly.

"Singing." Usagi smiled proudly.

Rei growled at her reply but was too tired to argue further. She stopped and panted tiredly when she reached the entrance of the old shrine, unable to even find the energy to look and admire the remarkable structure that was said to be one of the world oldest temples. Usagi beamed as she stepped through the grand gate with Rei tagging behind her.

"Wow! There are so many people around." Usagi exclaimed in anticipation.

She was fasciated by the amount of tourists gathered inside, exploring and taking pictures of the different buildings and antique structures around them.

"Yes, so don't blow your cover this time round. I don't wish to end up running about in the place I grew up in." Rei stated firmly as she placed her hand on top of Usagi's cap, securing it in place.

"Eh?! I didn't know that you used to live here…" Usagi exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, when I was still a child. My grandfather wanted me to take over his place and become a miko at this shrine, but I longed to become a musician back then. So, I abandoned my duties and left for the city to pursue my dream. Come to think about it, I would have lead a much easier life as a miko…"

--

"_Miko was a Japanese term that meant shrine maiden who served at Shinto shrines." – Translation._

--

"Are you regretting it now?" Usagi asked abruptly.

Surprised, Rei blinked at her for a second before shaking her head with a smile. "I would have if it wasn't for you…"

"Me?"

Rei nodded with a gentle smile, "Ever since that day I saw your first audition on stage, I was overwhelmed. Your voice… It's so light like a feather yet gracefully powerful and sharp like the beauty of a sword… And then, I thought, how great it would be if I could play for a voice like this. So, the truth is, you inspired me, Usagi, as well as everyone else in Blue Moon. We are always performing our best because of you…"

"Eh?!" Usagi dropped her jaw in both embarrassment and surprise.

"But, it's such a pity that you are so slow when it comes to love..." Rei sighed.

"I'm not slow!"

"Then have you been in love before?"

"I love to sing." Usagi replied innocently.

"I'm not referring to that! What I meant was having affection for a particular person, a man or even a woman, it doesn't matter who as long as you feel happy together…"

"But, I'm happy with everyone now." Usagi replied simply.

"No, no! Not like that…" Rei sighed heavily before adding thoughtfully. "I'm talking about romantically loving someone. You know, it's like your heart will beat real fast whenever you think of this one person, and when he's happy, you will feel happy too, but when he's upset, you'll feel like crying. You may even go to the extent of wanting to be that person's strength because you find him respectable in all aspects and his voice is the only thing you'll want to hear…"

"Hmmm…" Usagi pondered hard, trying to let the new information sink in.

"Yes, yes… How is it? Are you feeling anything right now?" Rei encouraged.

Usagi nodded honestly, "I feel hungry."

Rei dropped her head in defeat and there was a moment of awkward silence as a gust of wind blew dried leaves past them.

"That's it! You're coming with me to the 'Love stones'!" Rei demanded and grabbed Usagi by her hand, pulling her along.

"What love stones?" Usagi exclaimed.

But she was ignored as Rei led her down several stairways, through a number of buildings and gardens before reaching the bottom ground where two tall rabbit's statues stood by an old entrance that was blocked by a barrier of white tapes that wrote 'Keep Out' in Japanese.

Rei took a step back, not believing that such a popular place of attraction was closed to the public. She turned around, ignoring Usagi as she grumbled, and climbed the long stairs back to the spot where she last saw an old lady selling talisman and protective amulets.

"Excuse me, Obassan. But do you know why the place leading to the Love stones is blocked from access?" Rei approached the elder and asked.

"Only those who are granted by fate can enter, child." The old woman answered mysteriously.

"What?" Rei blinked in confusion.

But the elder just smiled and handed a wooden box out to both Usagi and Rei, "Do you want to see what your fate might be?"

"Sure!" Usagi smiled and instantly placed her hand into the box before Rei could even stop her.

She drew out a golden piece of folded paper which she quickly unfolded and began reading without hesitation.

"_You are selected to enter a New World where you'll meet your true love. In exchange, you'll have to forgo your following possession -- Identity, fame, wealth, achievements, family and friends. However, you're allowed to bring your talents, skills, memories and experiences that you've achieved so far to the alternative universe with you. If you wish to start your journey now, please follow the guidance of the pair of divine butterflies." _

"Alternative universe? What sort of fortune telling is this? It's like going into Wonderland, only worse…" Rei frowned suspiciously at the piece of paper.

Usagi shrugged with a smile, "But it sounds interesting."

"Anything weird sounds interesting to you…" Rei commented with a sigh before reaching into her pocket to take out her cell phone that was vibrating.

Flipping the small device open, she frowned when she saw the name of their manager flashed across her phone's screen.

"Yes, Yuuichirou… I do remember that we have a television program to attend at six… Well, you can entertain the reporters for an hour or so, can't you…? Yes, we will be back soon…" She ended the call with a tiring sigh.

"Usagi, we have to get-…"

Rei paused at her mid sentence when she turned around to find that her friend was nowhere in sight, and it wasn't just Usagi, the old lady and her stall were gone as well. Rei blinked in surprise and almost dropped her phone at their bizarre disappearance.

"Something isn't right…" She murmured and picked up her pace to look for her friend.

--

"_Do you believe?_

_If the world betrayed you,_

_I'll stand behind you, betraying the world…"_

She could hear him, the voice that compelled her to follow the pair of golden butterflies.

But, who was it?

She wanted to know, she needed to find out who it was.

The white tapes that were once blocking the old entrance vanished, opening a path for Usagi to enter. She reached out for the butterflies that were only a foot away from her, but her fingers wrapped around the air and nothing else. Instinctively, she followed them as they led her down the dirt road that seemed to extend forever.

Looking down the straight path, she could tell that she was the only one to come down this road in a while. The branches and leaves on top of the trees intertwined with each other, blocking out the sunlight. And without any street light or sign of technology, Usagi was sure that she wouldn't be able to see anything if it wasn't for the glowing butterflies that she was going after.

All of a sudden, the butterflies dispersed into tiny golden dust as a path of light coming from the distance lit up the dark pathway. She could still hear the voice calling out to her, but it was fainting away as the light before her gradually diminished.

"Wait!" Usagi called out as she raced forward, stepping into the new world.

--

* * *

--

Two teenagers stood at the centre of an empty street, both cornered by a group of bulky men.

"Please come back with us, young master Seiya." One of the muscular men requested.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Unlike any of you, I've no interest in following that old man's order." Seiya replied bluntly.

"That old man is the CEO of the Kou's financial Cooperation, who also happened to be your father, Seiya. You shouldn't be so crude even though you dislike him." The taller boy standing next to him commented with a shrug.

"I didn't ask for your comment, Haruka. And you shouldn't even be here in the first place." Seiya muttered.

Haruka shook his head, "I can't possibly let them steal you away when I've worked so hard to make you mine."

Seiya almost fell over when he heard this along with everyone else. For a minute there, the men around them thought that their young master had an undisclosed love affair with a guy who happened to be the son of the Director of the Capital Education Board.

"Don't be mistaken. He was referring to his band." Seiya quickly clarified, not wanting any of them to start reporting something ridiculous to his family.

"Young master Seiya, Your father, Kazuki-sama wants to meet you and if you don't agree on coming us, we'll have to bring you back by force." Another man in the group warned.

"Good, bring it on…" Haruka taunted much to their surprise.

"No, you stay out of this…" Seiya shook his head.

"But I'm here to help."

"If you want to help, carry this for me…" He replied before tossing his guitar case over to him.

Haruka caught the bag easily as he watched how Seiya dodged all the attack before kicking one of them in the gut. The wounded man groaned and collapsed. The other men ran towards Seiya, attempting to knock him out on the head. But Seiya turned around just in time to grab one of them by the arm. He lifted and tossed him to the other two men, knocking the three of them down.

"Useless…" Seiya commented while dusting his hands.

"Here's your precious guitar." Haruka muttered and returned him the casing.

"Thanks."

"Guess we better get running. It looks like it's about to rain." Haruka gestured at the flickering night sky.

Seiya glanced up, realizing that there weren't any storm clouds. The sky was clear and he couldn't find anything that would signal a drizzle besides the constant blinking. It was an odd sight but Seiya decided not to comment about it as he hurried down the street with Haruka. Now, besides those he had already beaten up, there were approximately 10 men chasing after them.

"How insistent…" Seiya growled as they ran down the row of houses.

Haruka sighed, "Even if you outrun them now, they'll still seek you out some other day. You should just follow them back and say hi to your father."

"It's not necessary. He's leaving the capital tomorrow, so as long as I don't get caught today, there won't be any problem." Seiya replied plainly.

"Right, I was recently told that that besides your father, no one in the Kou family wants you back in the main house. And it seems like your step mum and brothers hate you too…"

Seiya shrugged, "Good. They should keep it up…"

Haruka sighed, "You'll soon be cut from succeeding any of your father's inherits if you carry on displaying such unbothered attitude, Seiya."

"Really? It's such a shame. I don't need his inherits and I've never consider myself as part of that family before." Seiya replied uncaringly before his eyes spotted a golden butterfly as it flew past him.

"That thing…"

"What thing?" Haruka asked.

Seiya widened his eyes at his friend, "You didn't see it? That golden butterfly that just flew past us…"

"What?"

He threw Seiya a confused look before looking at the direction where Seiya was heading.

Besides the dark pavement in front of them, Haruka couldn't find anything that would catch his attention. The road before them were empty, except for some dry leaves and litters here and there, there was definitely no butterfly in front of them no matter how hard he tried looking for it.

Just when he was starting to suspect that it was just a part of his friend's imagination, Seiya turned the corner abruptly, following the butterfly into a dead end.

"It's gone…" He muttered, glancing around only to realize that the strange insect had vanished without a trace.

"Why the hell did you stop here for…?"

Haruka's statement was interrupted by a sudden loud boom that sounded like a thunder. They looked up to face the source of the blast and to their astonishment, something or rather someone was falling towards them from above. For a moment there, the boys thought that they were seeing an illusion of a fallen angel, but after noticing that she didn't have wings, they started to realize that she wasn't just their imagination.

"Wa!"

She cried and fell face first onto Seiya. The both of them dropped back to the floor with their lips pressed firmly against each others. At this, Seiya's eyes snapped open from shock, staring up into her wide blue orbs. She gazed back at him, equally surprised, as they continued to lay there in deep silence till Haruka cut in.

"I don't know what is happening here. But how much longer do the both of you plan to keep lying in that posture?"

Usagi gasped and quickly pushed herself off his chest when she finally understood the situation. She kneeled down in front of him, her expression in a mixture of shock and anger, as he mimicked her looks and gazed back at her.

"Yo-you… What have you done to me?" She exclaimed, pointing at him.

"What?" Seiya frowned.

"Tha-that was my first kiss! You stole my first kiss! You thief! Pervert! Give me back my first kiss!"

"You are the one who jumped onto me! And no matter how anyone looks at it, I AM the victim here… so PAY up!" Seiya demanded, as he extended his hand out to her.

"Eh?! Why should I be paying you?!"

"My kiss and service don't come free, Odango. So pay up! One million yen…" Seiya insisted.

"I'm never paying you a single cent! And my name is not Odango! It's Usagi! I can't believe you don't know my name!" She exclaimed in agitation.

"I don't get it. Why must I know a perverted girl's name?" He replied, half-teasingly.

"You are the pervert here!" Usagi exclaimed loudly, pointing her index at him.

"Shhh… Will the both of you please keep your volume down? They'll find us if you continue shouting like that." Haruka hissed, noticing the shadows of the men nearby.

Seiya sighed, "They are still around?"

Haruka nodded as he leaned against the wall and glanced out into the open, "We should get going. They might catch us if we continue to stay here."

"Ah! I knew it! The two of you must be criminals that the police are after!" Usagi guessed, gazing suspiciously at them.

To her surprise, Seiya just smirked at her remark as he turned around to face her. He took a step closer and leaned forward as if to kiss her, making her backed away nervously. She swore she would have given him a punch on the face if he hadn't stopped a short distance away from her.

"Yes, we are those big bad wolves that kidnap little Usagi (rabbit) like you to sell them off to the black market." He breathed.

"Iiyee… Get away from me!" Usagi shrieked, lifting up her fist at him.

She strike blindly, her punch missed him and landed onto his guitar case. Seiya's eyes sharpened a little at what she did, and he would have yelled at her if she hadn't surprised him with a warm smile.

"Ehhhh.... This electric guitar case… I used the exact same one too!" She exclaimed before smiling sweetly up at him. "You must really treasure your guitar a lot."

Seiya could only blink back in surprise. She didn't even get to know his name, yet she managed to understand an aspect of him which most people overlooked just by looking at his guitar case? He continued to stare at her, watching her admire his fancy casing with a smile, and from that point of view, he thought she looked pretty cute.

She wasn't like any other girl he had met before. Most women he came across paid him to date them; many whom he didn't even bothered remembering their names. Those were the types he hated the most. They would throw themselves at him mainly because of his good looks and even claimed that they loved him when they didn't even know a thing about him. So, to meet a girl who would smile at him not because she was attracted to his physical appearance but his passion and interest was something totally new to him.

"Nn? Where am I?" Usagi muttered to herself, finally realizing that she was in a dark, narrow alley.

No matter how she looked at it, the place definitely didn't represent a part of the shrine where Rei and her were in before. Apart from her frustration in losing her first kiss to a complete stranger, Usagi couldn't be more confused now. Where was she? And, what was happening here?

"You are Usagi right? I see that you've jumped from the wall over here. Are you a resident of this neighbourhood?" Haruka approached her and asked thoughtfully.

"I should ask you the same thing. Who are you people? And what are the two of you doing here?" She replied quickly.

Haruka smiled friendly, "I'm Haruka Tenoh. You can call me Haruka. And this person you've just bumped into is Seiya Kou. Don't worry. We aren't offenders or anyone bad… You see, Seiya is getting chased by his father's men. It's his family issue, but I hope you can help us out and tell us the best place to exit from since you're familiar with the neighbourhood."

"I don't live here. Besides, even if I do, I don't see why I should be helping a thief like you." Usagi pointed at Seiya, still angry about him kissing her.

They glowered at each other for a moment longer before Seiya looked over to Haruka, "And, I don't see any reason why we must explain or even ask her for help. Just let them come. I'll just fight them off if they do."

"You shouldn't be fighting!" Usagi shrieked abruptly much to their surprise.

For a second, both Seiya and Haruka just stared back at her, not sure whether they had heard her right.

"Your hand! It's the most important thing for a guitarist! If you treasure your guitar so much, you should treasure your hand as well. So, you shouldn't be fighting and risk getting it hurt!" Usagi explained quickly.

Seiya widened her eyes at her, taken aback by the things she had just said. He would never imagine anyone telling him that. This girl, she was something else. She was the first person to show this much concern over an unforseen injury of his when clearly she was angry at him for kissing her, even though she was the one who landed onto him.

"But Seiya has already injured his hand because of you…" Haruka informed simply and gestured at Seiya's swollen left wrist.

"Eh?!" Usagi threw him a shock look before she turned to study the injured wrist.

"It's nothing…" Seiya muttered awkwardly and hid his hand away from her view.

"I saw everything." Haruka smirked, "You twisted your left hand when you tried to prevent Usagi-san from hitting the concrete back then. So, Usagi-san, you shouldn't be scolding him. If it wasn't for Seiya, you'd be the one having a swollen hand or skull instead."

Usagi's eyes enlarged with a mixture of shock and guilt. After hearing what Haruka had said, she couldn't even bring herself to feel angry about this man who kissed her against her will. Looking back now, maybe he didn't do it on intention or rather she should be the one to be blamed for falling onto him like that and injuring him.

"For a right-handed guitarist, your left hand is indeed very important, and looking at how swollen it is now. I don't think you'll be able to play for tomorrow performance." Haruka concluded, still staring at his wrist.

"I can always change to a left-handed player." Seiya replied nonchalantly.

"But you haven't gotten your left-handed electric guitar back from repair, have you?" Haruka reminded.

"Ehhh? You can play with both hands?!" Usagi cut in with enthusiasm.

"Amazing, isn't he?" Haruka nodded with a smile. "He's the best lead guitarist I've ever come across which is why I must have him in my band."

"It's nothing amazing…" Seiya brushed it off, not wanting the conversation to go any further.

"No, you're amazing! I've never met anyone other than Mamoru who is both a left and right-handed player. That's so cool! I'll love to see you play someday." Usagi exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh? You are not mad at me now?" Seiya grinned.

"I'm still a little angry…" She admitted, folding her arms across her chest. "But, I did cause your hand to get hurt. So, I think we can call it even."

"Even? I'm not agreeing to this…" Seiya shook his head stubbornly. "You still owe me a million yen."

"I'm not giving you anything!" She shrieked at him out of irritation.

"Can the both of you just cut it out already? You will alert the search party." Haruka sighed.

"It has been fifteen minutes at least. They are probably gone by now." Seiya concluded.

Usagi shook her head at his assumption, "You're wrong. They are just hiding around the other corners waiting for you to turn up on the main street."

"How can you be so sure?" Seiya inquired suspiciously.

Usagi held her head up proudly, "I've experienced it numerous times already. Whether it's paparazzi, fans, or stalkers, they all do the same things. It's nothing new. But their efforts are useless. I outrun them all the time."

"From how you put it, I'm starting to suspect that you are actually an escaped criminal." Seiya told her half-teasingly.

"I'm not a criminal! And, I can't believe you! How can you not know me when you are a guitarist yourself?" She exclaimed loudly

"Shhh!" Haruka hissed angrily at them. "How many times must I repeat myself? If the both of you ain't going to help, at least be quiet."

Usagi glowered at Seiya for a second longer before turning away. "Who said I wasn't going to help? Just follow me."

"Follow you? How do you know where to go when you aren't from this neighbourhood, Odango?" Seiya asked with a shrug.

"I already said that I've been through such situations for years, so it doesn't matter whether I know the place or not. Everywhere is the same for me." Usagi explained confidently.

"Hm? You are pretty confident, aren't you?" Seiya smirked.

"Of course, I'm very confident in getting the both of you out of this place. Or perhaps, you don't have the confidence to catch up with my pace, Seiya-kun?" Usagi challenged coolly.

Seiya laughed sarcastically, "Ha! I'll pay you a million yen if I couldn't catch up with you."

"You're on." Usagi smiled and raced down the alley with Seiya following behind.

Haruka sighed at them before picking up his pace and joining the couple as they disappeared into the corner.

--

* * *

--

The maids pushed open the huge double doors, bowing their heads as the head mistress entered the large dinning room. Her two sons, Taiki and Yaten, were already seated with half empty plates in front of them.

"Kaa-sama…" They greeted her formally.

She nodded and took her seat at the head of the long table silently. Nobody made a sound. An uncomfortable silence loomed over the table as they continued with their meals. While Taiki didn't seem affected by the presence of his cold mother, Yaten shifted in his seat awkwardly, showing his detest for having to dine with her.

"Have the two of you heard about it? You father is intending to bring that bitch's son into the family." She informed in a cold tone.

"But he got away, didn't he?" Taiki replied bluntly, not even bothering to look up at his mother as he continued to serve himself in his usual grace.

"Don't let your guard down. An illegitimate bastard like him might just use some dirty tricks and surpassed the both of you to become your father's successor… just like how his mother did sixteen years ago…" She warned with a sense of hatred.

"Don't worry, Kaa-sama. I won't let that happen." Taiki told her calmly.

The head mistress nodded at his remark, apparently trusting her younger son words. Unlike Yaten, who wouldn't listen to her, Taiki had never failed in meeting her expectation, whether it was in studies or running the family's business. Though she knew that he wasn't doing all these out of obedience, she wouldn't complain about it as long as he continued to excel in the path of becoming his father's successor one day.

"Lately, I heard you and Minako Aino are seeing each other pretty often, Yaten. You know that her family and ours are business rivals. What would your father and your fiancée, Luna, think if they see the both of you together? You should act more appropriately like how an oldest son of our Kou's family should…" She lectured firmly.

Yaten smirked, "Kaa-sama, I'm afraid you got your information wrong. She's the one who takes a liking and sticks on to me. Besides, Taiki is the one who told me to build a close relationship with her so we could create an opportunity to eliminate the Aino's family from stealing our next business deal."

"That sounds like a good scheme." His mother grinned evilly.

"I'm done and I'll be heading back to my room, Kaa-sama." Taiki muttered coolly, ignoring his mother's comment as he left his seat.

"Taiki…" His mother called out, stopping him from leaving the room.

"The recreation project on JUNK House was your proposal, wasn't it? But I was told that your father has decided not to demolish the place because that illegitimate child will be performing there tomorrow night. It's such a shame that we'll have to lose several hundreds millions in profit just because of someone who shouldn't even be part of the family. I'm sure you won't just let this matter pass and you'll help me get rid of him, won't you?"

Taiki remained expressionless as he glanced over his shoulder at her, "If he's going to stand in my way, I'll take him out as you please, Kaa-sama."

--

* * *

--

It had only been a day and Usagi had already discovered that she didn't belong in the world she was in now. Her existence alone was already a mistake. Neither her family, friends nor, her band, Blue Moon, existed here. In another word, she was a no body, something she hadn't came to get used to accepting as she walked down the night street that was scattered with people ready to enter the JUNK house.

Still, Usagi was rather enjoying the fact that no one knew her well enough to stalk or pester her, and the best of it all, there was no need for her to hide under some thick sun glasses or coat wherever she goes. In a good way, she had obtained the freedom and privacy she longed for though she would rather have her family, friends, and identity back. But she guessed it couldn't be helped, unless she was able to find her way back.

In the meanwhile, she would just have to accept Haruka's offer to stay at a rented apartment next to his in the exchange of helping him managed his band which consisted of only three members – Haruka, Seiya, and a girl called Minako Aino whom she hadn't met yet. Apparently, there were too little members to be considered as an official music group, but Haruka was particularly picky when it came to selecting the right musician to join them which was what made the completion of his band seemed almost impossible to achieve.

"It's a long queue…" Usagi commented as she frowned at the line of people waiting to enter the JUNK house.

"That's because Seiya is performing tonight…" Haruka replied.

"Eh? They are all here to see him? Is he really that popular?" Usagi raised her brows.

"Yes, especially with the girls… he's a lady killer… so I'll advice you to stay away from him..."

"I won't want to go near him even if you pay me to!" Usagi shrieked and folded her arms.

Haruka chuckled, "But he's exceptionally good. And besides him, I won't want any other guitarist in my band."

"But I heard he's playing for another band by the name of Amazon Trio tonight…"

Haruka shrugged uncaringly, "Many music groups in the town pay him to perform with them but he doesn't stay permanent with any of the band, so it doesn't really matter."

"It does matter! His hand is still swollen. He shouldn't even be performing with any group tonight!" Usagi insisted.

"Oh? You do care a lot for him, don't you?" Haruka winked.

"No, I don't!" Usagi insisted. "I just thought it is stupid of him to perform when he's hurt!"

Haruka shook his head, "It isn't stupid, Usagi. He needed the money to help his mother…"

"His mother?"

Haruka nodded, "Seiya's mother used to be a singer during her youth, but she developed a tumor in her vocal cord and was forced to stop singing after Seiya was born. And, if that wasn't bad enough, five years ago, she got into a car accident and though she survived it, she suffered from severe brain injury that caused her to acquire a disorder called, Amusia. I heard that ever since then, she sank into depression and her body has grown really weak, to the extent that she couldn't even leave the hospital bed without assistance. And of course, Seiya has been taking care of her and all the expenses ever since. The hospital bill and treatment aren't cheap either…"

--

"_Amusia is agnosia for music. It involved loss of the ability to recognize musical notes, rhythms, and intervals and the inability to experience music as musical." – Story information. _

--

Usagi grew quiet. Her expression showing a hint of guilt for the insult that she had made. At least, it explained why he was only concerned about money and would even sell himself out to those women who were willing to pay a large sum for him. Though, back in her world, Usagi had never faced any financial crisis before, she could somehow understand the difficulties Seiya was going through. Thinking along that line, maybe she should apologize to him for the crude attitude that she had been giving him these past two days.

So absorbed in her own thoughts, Usagi hadn't notice that they had entered into the night house till she heard loud screams coming from the girls that were already there before her.

"Seiya! Seiya!"

Usagi turned to face the small stage that Haruka was guiding her to. Seiya and the Amzon Trio were already in position, ready to start off with their performance. The two teenagers tried squeezing their way through the crowd with much effort, stopping only when they were directly below the place where Seiya was standing.

Seiya smirked at Usagi when he noticed her watching him from beneath and she stuck her tongue out to him before smiling gently back. He saw her opening her mouth to tell him something, but her message was covered by the cries of the audience. Though the place was only big enough to hold no more than a hundred people, the noise created was so piercing that it made a normal conversation seemed impossible.

The noise level got worse when the drummer, Fish's eye, hit on the drumheads while the bassist, Hawk's eyes, and lead singer, Tiger's eyes, joined in after him. Usagi covered both her ears at the music produced. It was awful, terrible even, and for someone who was born with perfect pitch, Usagi didn't know where to start picking out all the mistakes they were making as they played their parts.

The singer was totally singing off the pitch, the drummer was hitting the wrong beat and the bassist was playing his bass line way too high. Usagi couldn't even understand why everyone was still cheering for the band when they were obviously making so many mistakes until the song hit the chorus and the lead guitar took over most of the phrase line.

Slowly, Usagi dropped her hands back down to her sides at the powerful guitar chord being played. It was amazingly perfect which made her wondered how anyone could possibly create such beautiful music effect when his wrist was hurt. At that moment, Usagi found herself watching a solo by Seiya as she followed him with her gaze, not looking away from him and ignoring all the other noise coming from the background.

For the first time that night, she, who had always been high up on the stage, was experiencing what it felt like to admire someone else from below. It was a strange feeling. She wanted to be up there with him yet he was making the stage that was supposedly close seemed so far away from her reach.

Looking at him now, she secretly though he looked really cool and charming. Usagi could even feel her heart pounding harder against her chest at every note he played, and she smiled a bit when she noticed how his eyes would return to hers every so often even though she wasn't one of the girls screaming his name.

"Seiya…" Usagi muttered with a smile.

Strangely, she wanted to hear him play forever yet she needed him to stop. His hand must have hurt terribly by now, and Usagi could already see sweats dripping down from his forehead as he tried to endure the pain. She scowled at this, wanting the song to stop, but it didn't seem like it was about to end anytime soon till the amplifiers suddenly went off and the lights came on a second later.

The crowd erupted and booed at the interruption while Usagi turned around to the direction where Seiya was glaring. There, climbing down the stairs, were a group of men whom she didn't recognized. The audience split, making way for Seiya as he leaped down from the stage and stormed up to the people walking towards him.

"What is the meaning of this, Taiki Kou?!" He demanded as he stopped before the two bodyguards and glared at the tallest man behind them.

Taiki remained quiet and expressionless, allowing his secretary, Ryo Urawa, to answer on his behalf. "Pardon us, but according to the legal papers, the Kou Cooperation has already bought down this entire place, and we are planning to establish it into an entertainment resort instead. So, from this minute on, all activities here including live performance are to be ceased completely.

Those standing around murmured in consideration at the announcement made while Seiya just glared calmly back at his half brother. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? First you bribe every band that you can find in this town to stop hiring me, and now you even leased JUNK House so I couldn't perform here? What is it do you want from me?"

"You're in my way…" Taiki muttered coolly.

Seiya smirked bitterly, "Funny. Shouldn't it be the other way round? You're the one interfering here."

"Whether I interfered or not, there won't be any benefit for anyone either way. So, I don't see why I must waste my time listening to your cheap and pointless performance." He pointed out bluntly.

-Splash-

Taiki remained there with droplets of water sliding down his expressionless face. He turned his attention and stared at the girl who splattered a glass of cold water at him while everyone just seemed to be gawking at her outrageous behaviour in shock.

"Don't insult Seiya when you don't know how much hard work he has put in for tonight's concert!" Usagi shrieked at Taiki before shoving the cup back to the man whom she had randomly taken it from.

Seiya stiffened at the words that had just burst out of her mouth. Not even in his wildest dream would he have expected anyone to be brave enough to retort the famous prodigy of the business world like that. Taiki wasn't only a genius. He was also notorious for being cold and merciless to those who dared to go against him. There was no telling what he was going to do with Usagi now that she had publicly offended him.

Shoving his thoughts aside, Seiya quickly yanked Usagi back to his side when one of Taiki's bodyguards tried to get hold of her. The big man growled at Seiya's defensive move and attempted to shove him away but Seiya wouldn't back off, grabbing the man firmly by his wrist before he could make contact with Usagi.

"Don't touch her." He warned sternly and tightened his grip against the man's hand, causing him to groan in pain.

Usagi and the other onlookers stared in shock, surprised by his sudden aggressive behavior. Taiki, on the other hand, eyed at Usagi quietly, trying to figure out who she was. Her presence bothered him since it was his first time seeing his archrival, someone who couldn't be bothered about anything else besides money, got serious over something as mild as her safety.

As much as he knew, she wasn't one of Seiya's _girlfriends_, and judging from her unique appearance and brave attitude, he was sure that she wasn't any ordinary commoners. But, she didn't seem to be part of any wealthy family either since he would have known her if she was from a royal line.

So, who was this strange girl?

Usagi caught Taiki staring a little too long as she turned to glare at him, making him smirked faintly at her angry expression. Noticing this, Seiya released the man and stood in front of Usagi, blocking his half brother's view on her.

Taiki stared blankly back for a second longer before stopping his guards from attacking Seiya. The men stepped back as ordered and followed their master as he turned around, ready to leave.

"Hey! Don't go without apologizing!" Usagi shrieked angrily, wanting to chase after Taiki but was immediately held back by both Seiya and Haruka.

They sighed together, each holding a troubled expression, as Usagi struggled to break free.

"Let go! I'm not done with him yet!"

"Don't you understand what sort of trouble you've gotten yourself into?" Haruka sighed for the second time.

"Trouble?" She gave them a baffled look.

Haruka nodded quietly, not knowing how he should be explaining the situation to her. He gazed over at Seiya, silently asking him for help but he was looking more troubled that he was.

What had gotten into him? For the past few years, he had successfully followed his mother's wishes and avoided interfering with matters related to either Taiki or his family. But now, his effort to stay unbothered with them had turned into waste after he had thoughtlessly attempted to defend Usagi from Taiki.

The worse of it all was that Usagi wasn't showing any sign of remorse at the trouble she had gotten him into. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't flare at her when he felt her gently taking his left hand over to hers and rolling up his long sleeve to examine the sore on his wrist.

"Hey you…"

"I'm sorry…" Usagi interrupted Seiya in a murmur, making him stared back at her in surprise by her apology.

"I didn't have the right to scold anyone… I was rude to you too and even caused you to hurt your most important hand... it looks painful…"

Seiya could feel his heart skipped by a bit at her concerned expression as he quickly slipped his hand out of hers and looked away with a slight blush, "Don't worry about it, it doesn't hurt."

"You are lying! I saw you sweating up there because of the pain!" Usagi argued, pointing at the stage.

"It was just the heat…" Seiya brushed it off quickly.

"But, this place is air conditioned!"

Seiya attempted to open his mouth to retort back but Usagi wasn't interested in arguing with him at that moment as she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him out of the protesting crowd, up the stairs, and out of the house much to his reluctance.

"Where the hell do you think you are taking me? I'm not done with the performance yet!"

"You will only strain your hand and worsen it if you continue to play with this silly injury of yours, baka Seiya!" Usagi exclaimed with determination, ignoring his protest.

"I'm stupid? You're the one who got my hand injured!"

"Which is why I'm bringing you to the doctor now… So, keep quiet and follow me!"

Seiya frowned, slightly exasperated. "You're so not cute…"

"And, you're so uncool!" Usagi retorted.

Seiya gave her an unenthusiastic look as she rebelliously stuck her tongue out at him. They just kept walking down the street, so absorbed in their argument that neither of them was aware that they were being watched.

Seated in a black fancy car, Taiki continued to observe the couple quietly as they made their way across the road. He tapped his fingers against the arm rest once, signalling to his secretary that he was calling him.

"Yes, master Taiki?" Ryo obediently responded.

With an expressionless face, Taiki fixed his eyes on Usagi with a slight hint of interest. "Check on that girl and bring her to me by the end of this week. I'll have a little _fun_ with her."

--

* * *

--

A/N: Initially, I wanted to keep Haruka's gender as a female, but Mei thought that it would be hotter if the band had four guys with the lead vocalist being the only girl in the group. Anyway, since I dedicate this story to her, I shall follow her wishes. Do leave me a review if you would like me to continue with this story since I wouldn't be spending time updating another chapter on if the demand isn't high. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading :)).

--


	2. Stage 2: Magic Lullaby

--

Last Chapter:

"_I'm stupid? You're the one who got my hand injured!"_

"_Which is why I'm bringing you to the doctor now… So, keep quiet and follow me!"_

_Seiya frowned, slightly exasperated. "You're so not cute…"_

"_And, you're so uncool!" Usagi retorted._

_Seiya gave her an unenthusiastic look as she rebelliously stuck her tongue out at him. They just kept walking down the street, so absorbed in their argument that neither of them was aware that they were being watched._

_Seated in a black fancy car, Taiki continued to observe the couple quietly as they made their way across the road. He tapped his fingers against the arm rest once, signalling to his secretary that he was calling him._

"_Yes, master Taiki?" Ryo obediently responded._

_With an expressionless face, Taiki fixed his eyes on Usagi with a slight hint of interest. "Check on that girl and bring her to me by the end of this week. I'll have a little __fun__ with her."_

--

* * *

--

**Stage 2****: Magic Lullaby**

--

Usagi sighed as she followed Haruka down the hallway that was scattered with students whispering and looking her way. They were obviously murmuring a few words about her, but she wasn't aware of the attention she was getting. It was common for people to scream or call her name whenever they were around her, and Usagi had gotten pretty used to all those noises directed to her, let alone faint murmurs spoken every now and then.

Within that morning, everyone already knew that she was the new girl in school, mainly because she was referred in by Haruka who was the school most prominent student due to his father's reputation. But no one knew that Usagi was forced in here by Haruka with the intention to manage his music club activities on his behalf. And despite her reluctance, Usagi couldn't say no to him since he was the one paying for the rental of her apartment.

It was official.

Usagi Tsukino, the sole vocalist of the multi-talented band, Blue Moon, had officially become a slave for an unnamed band until she was able to find a job to pay for her own expenses.

Usagi sighed for the tenth times at the thought of her financial problems. She knew that she needed a job, but she didn't know how or where to start looking for one. Back in her world, money had never been an issue to be concerned about when her profession could easily earn a sum large enough to buy down a house or two. But she lived a completely different life now, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any joy in attending classes and listening to long boring lectures.

"Ignore them, Usagi. They are just curious because you're new here…" Haruka told her, thinking that she was looking uncomfortable because of the attention she was receiving.

"Eh?"

Usagi blinked and looked up, nearly bumping into Haruka when he stopped by the entrance of their club room. Without hesitation, he slid open the door, ready to introduce Usagi to his other band member, Minako Aino, but was startled to find that she wasn't alone. Standing beside her was Yaten Kou, a boy whom Haruka didn't particularly like despite secretly wanting him in his band for his exceptional skill in playing the bass.

"This room is for members only. We don't welcome outsiders." Haruka stated bluntly while glaring at Yaten.

Minako quickly jumped into his defence, "It isn't Yaten's fault! I was the one who insisted him to come in…"

"Forget it. I didn't intend to stay here for long either." Yaten mumbled uncaringly as he shoved his bass guitar back into the case.

"Good. Then leave." Haruka demanded, gesturing to the door.

"Gladly." Yaten replied simply.

He walked past Haruka, not bothering to look at him or even say goodbye to Minako when she called out to him. The only person his eyes landed on was Usagi, the brave girl whom had made herself famous for offending his brother, Taiki. He smirked at her before leaving, but Usagi was completely unaware of that silent message. Besides the bass guitar Yaten was carrying, she paid no attention to anything or anyone else until she heard a loud shriek coming from behind her.

Immediately, Usagi spun around to face the source of the scream, and was more than surprise to see Minako gaping at her with an overexcited expression, one that reminded her of how her fans would usually react whenever they saw her.

"Usa-Usagi Tsukino! It's Usagi Tsukino from Blue Moon!" Minako gasped and flung herself at Usagi before she could even react.

For a minute, all Usagi could do was stared at the blonde clinching onto her in shock. Wait a minute. Did she hear her right? Someone in this world actually knew her? But how could that even be possible?

"I'm hugging Usagi Tsukino! I'm actually hugging Usagi Tsukino! I can't believe it! This must be a dream! KYaaaa!!" Minako shrieked in excitement.

Her extreme enthusiasm made Haruka narrowed his eyes at Minako, asking, "You knew Usagi?"

Still holding onto her idol, Minako spun around and threw Haruka a shock look, "Of course I do! How can anyone not know Tsukino-sama?! Do you know how famous she was back in my ex-world? She was everyone's idol, and her influence went beyond music! She was even considered as a fashion icon and trend-setter! Every girl's out there would dress and bun their hairs up just to look like her-…"

"Wa-wait!" Usagi cut in and covered Minako's mouth with both hands, stopping her from saying anything more to confuse Haruka.

She quickly excused herself and pulled Minako out of the club room before Haruka could even stop her. Minako didn't know where exactly Usagi was bringing her but she didn't seem to mind. She could hardly contain herself from clinching onto Usagi again after they had entered the empty classroom just next door.

"It's really you, Tsukino-sama! I've always dream of meeting you like now! Please, please! Can I have your autograph?" Minako requested keenly.

"Wa-Wait! You actually know who I am?" Usagi asked in absolute surprise.

Minako beamed and nodded happily, "I know everything about you, Tsukino-sama! At just the age of 15, you debuted as the main vocalist in the band, Blue Moon, which later became the leading music group in the world. And even though you are the youngest in the band, you are the one who handle all the lyrics composition and could play almost any types of instruments because of your perfect pitch ability…"

Usagi blinked in amazement as she continued listening to Minako poured out information about her for a minute longer before finally deciding that she should stop her for questioning, "Bu-But wait… How did you know so much about me…?"

"That's because I came from the same world as Tsukino-sama…" Minako replied calmly.

"Yo-You what?!" Usagi shrieked.

Minako nodded but smiled sadly. "But I couldn't be happy back in that place where I was born. My family saw me as a burden and they would always ignore me. In school, I didn't have any friends and was often picked on because I looked different from all the other girls. There was many times when I wish I could just die and disappear… but you saved my life Tsukino-sama…"

"Eh? Me? But I don't remember rescuing you or anyone from anything..." Usagi exclaimed quickly.

"You did, Tsukino-sama! You did save my life two years ago!"

"Two years ago?" Usagi repeated, still not getting her.

"Yes! Yes! I was there on Blue Moon's first live performance that was aired across the country where I once stayed! Even till today, I could still remember the yells and claps around me when you appeared on a white mount, dressed in a sparkling pure white gown... You have no idea how beautiful you looked back there, and the moment you started singing, everyone just went quiet because your voice… It's… it's so incredible… It really is…" Minako smiled gently.

"No, no… I'm not that good…" Usagi denied and shook her hands in front of herself embarrassingly.

"You are! You are amazing, Tsukino-sama!" Minako insisted and grasped onto Usagi's hand. "Back then, the only time I ever felt comfortable was watching and listening to you sing. You are always looking so happy, always full of life, and always shining up there… I've always wanted to be like that… So, last year, I made a wish on my 16th birthday… I wish that I could start a new life somewhere where I can get the chance to be a lead vocalist, meet top talented musicians, and formed a band as great as Blue Moon. And, the next thing I knew, my dream came true and I was sent here! Rebirth as a new Minako Aino!"

"Rebirth? What do you mean by rebirth? Are you saying that there is no way for us to get back?" Usagi asked anxiously.

Minako released Usagi, taken aback by her worried expression. Her idol had always appeared cheerful and carefree in her memories, nothing near to how disturbed she looked right now.

"I'm sorry, Tsukino-sama… I don't know anything about this… and I've never thought of going back to before. Unlike there, I've a wonderful family and good friends here…"

"I don't!" Usagi exclaimed in an unintentionally sharp voice before continuing emotionally.

"I don't have anything here… my family, my friends, my past and my future, are not here… I didn't want to start a new life… I didn't even wish to be here! So why am I sent here? Can you imagine what it's like to lose everything that is precious to you? Mother, Father, Rei, Mamoru, Saphir, Makoto, everyone… I miss everyone back home… I miss them…"

Minako tensed up as she watched Usagi looking away in distress. Mortified by the wave of agony drifting off of her, Minako touched her shoulder to get her attention. She had to apologize. Yes, she clearly believed that it was her fault that her idol was looking so miserable right now.

"I'm sorry, Tsukino-sama…"

Usagi looked back at her, giving her a perplexed look. "For what?"

"Because I must have said things that upset you…"

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing… I'm sorry… I got carried away…" Usagi muttered, smiling gently.

"You shouldn't apologize to me, Tsukino-sama. I was really thoughtless… I said so many things without considering your feeling. You have the right to be angry with me…" Minako muttered and looked down in shame.

"Eh? Angry with you? What are you saying? I should be thanking you for telling and hearing me out…"

Minako lifted her head up, revealing her dumbstruck expression.

Usagi smiled, "And you don't have to be so formal, Minako-chan. You can just call me Usagi… After all, I'm the manager of your band now…"

Minako threw her a disbelief look, "Yo-You are our manager? Si-Since when?"

"Since I didn't have the money to pay for my rental…" Usagi muttered quietly to herself.

Overjoyed by the news, Minako practically screamed and flung herself at Usagi causing her to fall to the ground with a loud crash.

"This is like a dream come true! I actually get to work with Tsukino-sama! Kyaaa! I'm so happy! I'm so happy!"

Her loud scream had Haruka bursting into the room and the scene of Minako lying on top of Usagi was what he found himself staring. Minako was still hugging dearly onto Usagi, unwilling to let go and she didn't seem bothered by how misleading her conduct appeared to be at that moment.

Haruka coughed awkwardly, trying to bring their attention to him. "Minako, I don't care what kind of a relationship you have with Usagi. But, I need her to run a little errand for me. So could you please get off her?"

Immediately, Minako released Usagi and shot up to her feet, looking almost angered. "How could you ask the almighty Tsukino-sama to do your errands? Prepare to get punished by her millions of fans out there!"

Haruka gave Minako an unenthusiastic look, "What nonsense are you bragging about? She's our manager. Of course, she will be handling all the little things…"

Minako widened her eyes at his remark, "No! You are not letting Tsukino-sama do all our silly chores! Don't you realize that you are just wasting her talent by asking her to do things like that?"

"It's alright, Minako-chan. I'm pretty good at running errands too…" Usagi lied, not wanting Haruka to turn anymore confused or suspicious as he already was now.

"But, Tsukino-sama…" Minako whined.

Usagi smiled and shook her head at her, but her grin instantly faded when Haruka handed Seiya's guitar out to her, silently asking her to find and hand it over to him. Usagi stared at the crimson casing for a second longer before sighing. Though she was reluctant to do any job that would lead her into another encounter with Seiya, she couldn't reject Haruka. After all, it was only the manager's responsibility to take care of the day-to-day business affairs of the band.

"I can finally understand your great contribution now, Yuuichirou-san. I'm sorry for always trying to mess up your carefully planned schedule. And if I ever get the chance to come back home alive, I promise that I'll never be lazy again and skip anymore appointment in the future." Usagi muttered to herself, finally appreciating the hard work that her manager had put through for her and her band.

With a tired expression on her face, Usagi continued to walk down the deserted hallway that would lead her to the school's roof, the place where Haruka claimed that Seiya would usually hang out in. After climbing a series of stairs, Usagi finally found herself standing before the entrance to the rooftop.

Without a second thought, she opened the door and stepped into the open ground. Her eyes wandered around lazily in search for the particular person that she was here to find, but there wasn't even a single soul in the large space before her. Thinking that he could be somewhere else, Usagi quickly turned around for the exit only to stop when she heard light giggling coming from one of the corners of the roof that was blocked by a concrete wall.

Tracing the source of the soft laughter, Usagi went over and stopped behind the last wall. She poked her head out without a second of hesitation and flinched at the scene she had caught sight of.

Seiya had his lips locked against Kakyuu's, a senior who was considered to be one of the most popular girl in school, while she had her arms wrapped around his neck. Little to Usagi's knowledge, a disgusted look crossed her face as she continued to watch them kissed for the next minute or two before Kakyuu decided to let Seiya go, allowing him to break the kiss.

"Is that good enough, Kakyuu-senpai?" He asked bluntly.

"One more…" She breathed and reached up for his lips.

But to her dismay, Seiya didn't submit to her request like he usually would. Instead, he backed away from her and avoided anymore contact, informing her that the promised dateline between them had just ended.

"Sorry, times up. My service stops here…"

Kakyuu's lips curved down by a little, showing a hint of disappointment, as she took out the check that she had already prepared from her skirt pocket and handed it over to Seiya.

"It's for this month…"

Still holding onto a straight face, Seiya took the check over without a single word and took a quick look at the amount written before slipping it into his side pocket. He thanked her softly and turned to leave, but Kakyuu simply held him back, hugging him from behind.

"I heard that your mother needs to be transferred to a private hospital soon and the charges are higher there. To help lighten your burden, I can pay you thrice if you're willing to come over my place tonight and accompany me through the weekends."

With that, Kakyuu quickly released him and took a step front so she was standing directly in front of him.

"I'll be waiting for you tonight. Goodbye." She smiled, waving at him as she headed for the exit.

After Kakyuu was out of sight, Seiya let out a tired breath, "How long do you plan to keep hiding, Odango?"

There was a brief moment of silence before Usagi reluctantly took a step out from behind the wall to face Seiya, looking anything but pleased. She averted his eyes and handed his guitar out to him.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't stalking you. I'm just here because Haruka wants me to return the guitar back to you."

Seiya grinned and took the case over from her. "Oh? You are allowing him to give it back to me? But weren't you the one who wanted it confiscated a week ago?"

"Your hand is much better now. So there is no reason for me to stop you from playing. And, if there nothing else, I'm leaving." Usagi finished simply and spun around to walk away.

"Wait! I'm not done yet…" Seiya called out.

Usagi sighed and stopped walking, "I'm not in a mood to start an argument with you today."

"I'm not going to argue with you. I just need your help." He told her.

"Help?" Usagi questioned, turning around to face him.

Seiya sighed, "Yes, my little cousin is staying over at my place today. I need your help to look after her while I'm out tonight."

"It's inconvenient…" Usagi rejected quickly.

"You just live next door." Seiya argued.

"But I'm busy… I need to look for a job…" She added simply.

"I'll pay you to baby-sit her then." He offered.

Immediately, the weariness in Usagi's eyes was replaced with a dollar sign. For someone who had nothing in this world, the mention of any word associated with money did sound delicious to her, and it didn't take very long for a greedy grin to replace her previous tired expression.

"Ok! A thousand for an hour!"

"Are you trying to rob me?!" Seiya yelled.

"I'm actually being very generous here! I used to earn ten times that amount in less than an hour!"

"Really? And what kind of job would allow an Odango to make that much?" He asked half-teasingly.

"Don't call me that! I'm not an Odango!" She shrieked angrily at him.

Seiya shrugged, "Fine, fine. I didn't come all the way here to quarrel with you today."

"That was supposed to be my line!"

She attempted to glare fiercely at him, but he just stared at her forcibly unhappy expression, entertained by this. From the look of it, Usagi probably had realized how much Seiya enjoyed teasing her. She didn't even understand why they would always end up engaging in an argument. But one thing she did know was that he would usually appear cockier and less cold around her. Was he doing this on purpose? But, he did look happier now as compared to a moment ago when he was kissing Kakyuu.

Usagi could feel her stomach tightened at the recollection of that scene. It was a strange feeling, rather unpleasant, but Usagi decided to shove it aside, thinking that she was falling sick because she didn't have a good breakfast that morning. Soon, the thought of food made her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't taken her lunch yet.

"I don't care how much you're paying me. Just give me something to eat… I'm hungry… I'm dying…" Usagi sighed, dropping her head as she reached out to tug Seiya gently on his sleeve much to his surprise.

"You are really…" He muttered but paused shortly with a smile.

…_So cute._

That was what he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't possibly say it out loud, could he?

"Come with me. I'll prepare you something for lunch…" He told her and simply took her hand into his.

"Eh? You can cook?" Usagi asked in surprise, allowing him to pull her along.

"I have to know how to since I live alone…" He replied briefly.

"Oh…"

Somehow, his reply reminded her of the terrible feeling of living alone in this world with no one to depend on, to smile at, or to cry to.

It was miserable.

And because of the situation she was in now, she could feel his pain in some way, but not entirely. Unlike him, she didn't have anything or anyone to be troubled over besides herself. Slowly, she turned her attention over to his broad shoulders, wondering how much burden he was carrying on them.

"It must be heavy…" Usagi muttered softly.

"What did you say?" Seiya stopped and turned around, not catching his words.

Usagi shook her head but smiled, making Seiya looked oddly at her. He swore he had heard her said something, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't press her further when she was looking so innocently at him all of the sudden. That just made him looked away and continued down the road they were in to avoid making the atmosphere around them anymore awkward than it already was.

For the rest of their journey, the couple walked together in a strange silence until they reached back to their apartment where they were greeted by an elderly man and his granddaughter.

"Onii-chan!!" The little girl cried and raced towards the door.

"Hey Chibi-Chibi…" Seiya smiled, bending over to pick her up when she flung herself onto him.

"My Onii-chan!" Chibi Chibi screeched and clung to Seiya.

She stared at him for a moment before peering around the room and furrowing her brows at Usagi, whom she deemed too close to Seiya. After swinging her legs and attempting to drive Usagi away, Chibi Chibi buried her face in Seiya's side, possessively gripping him.

Usagi widened her eyes at this, taken aback by her action. She was clearly missing the picture and didn't understand what she had done to make the little girl unhappy. Noting her startled look on Usagi's face, Seiya chuckled lightly to himself as he patted Chibi Chibi on the head in an attempt to calm her down.

"Forgive her, young lady. She has been like this since the last few weeks. I guess she must have missed Seiya badly, which is why I brought her here today. I hope you aren't offended by it." Grandpa smiled.

"Oh… No, no… Not at all…" Usagi replied quickly before introducing herself with a bow, "And nice to meet you, sir… My name is Usagi Tsukino… I'm here to help Seiya with the babysitting, but I'm new at it and isn't very good, so please feel free to instruct me if I make any mistake… I'll do my best to correct them…"

Seiya glanced over at Usagi, surprised to see her behaving with such courtesy. Whenever she interacted with him, she was always rude, if not difficult, nothing near to how she was acting towards his grandfather now. Any normal girls he knew would have chosen him over an unattractive old man to behave sweetly to, but Usagi was doing the entirely opposite. It was indeed weird to see a girl acting all nice and polite to an elder while ignoring him when he was supposedly her 'employer'.

She even offered to help his grandfather out in the kitchen, but immediately dropped the idea when she realized that Seiya would be the one doing most of the cooking. Without another word, Usagi made her way out, but stopped by the corridor when she glimpsed Seiya giving his grandfather the check that he had received from Kakyuu.

"Keep it for yourself. You have already done enough to pay for your mother's debt. We don't want anymore money from you." The old man rejected.

Seiya shook his head and placed the check into his grandfather's hand, wrapping his fingers around his to keep the paper in place. "I know that oba-san has fallen ill. This amount should be enough to cover the rest of her medical bill."

His grandfather sighed, accepting the money. "I'm sorry, my boy. You have been doing so much for us yet all my family ever did was to push most of the blame to you… You must have suffered a lot…"

Seiya smiled slightly, "It's alright. They have all the right to… since everyone might live a better life if it wasn't for me…"

"That's just an excuse, my boy…" His grandfather shook his head.

Seiya kept quiet, leaving their conversation to end with that statement. Usagi, on the other hand, quickly retreated before either of them noticed that she was even there. She knew it was wrong to be eavesdropping, but instead of feeling guilty, she found herself unconsciously worrying for him.

Her mood only improved slightly after eating the delicious meal that Seiya had prepared for her, and he seemed somewhat happy that she had enjoyed his cooking. He was even seen smiling to himself when she asked for another serving which only swelled Chibi Chibi to dislike Usagi further.

It didn't matter how hard Usagi tried to be friendly, Chibi Chibi would always ignore her, and her defiance only got worse after her grandfather and Seiya had left them alone in the small apartment. Usagi sighed, dropping the idea of acting nice. She walked over to Chibi Chibi, glaring at her for a second before picking her up forcefully. The little girl shrieked and struggled vigorously but Usagi ignored the rebellious look on her face. She simply carried her to the guest room and dropped her uncaringly on the bed.

"Sleep!" Usagi ordered, pointing her index at Chibi Chibi.

"No! Where's Onii-chan? Chibi Chibi wants Onii-chan!" She cried.

"Didn't Seiya say that he will be back later? There's an important appointment he needs to attend to…"

But her statement only made Chibi Chibi screeched even louder, "Don't bully Onii-chan!"

"I'm not bullying him… He's the one who is always picking on me…" Usagi sighed, dropping down on the empty spot of the bed besides Chibi Chibi.

To her surprise, the little girl didn't edge herself away as Usagi had expected her to. Instead, Chibi Chibi cocked her head to the side, staring innocently back at her, "Really…? Onee-san won't be mean to Onii-chan?"

Usagi nodded with a smile, "You really do like Seiya a lot, don't you?"

"Chibi Chibi loves Onii-chan a lot! Onii-chan is really nice… but everyone is mean to him… Mama, papa, aunty… kept saying bad things about him… Chibi Chibi hates it when they bully Onii-chan…" She uttered slowly.

Usagi smiled at her, finally understanding the reason for her defiance and her unwillingness to go home. And, even though throwing her tantrum was the only thing she could do to defend Seiya, it was still amazing how she had tried to protect him in her own way.

"You're such a good girl…" Usagi commented, patting Chibi Chibi on her head.

Chibi Chibi peered up at Usagi innocently, taken aback by her compliment. This was the first time anyone had praised her when defended Seiya. Her mother would scold her and her relatives would ignore her whenever she said something like that, but this Onee-san didn't. Maybe grandpa was right. Unlike the other big sisters, this Onee-san wasn't really a bad person…

"Is that a recorder you are holding onto?" Usagi asked, noticing that Chibi Chibi had been clutching onto it for quite some time now.

The little girl nodded, "Chibi Chibi wants to listen to Onii-chan sings… So Chibi Chibi can record it but Onii-chan said he didn't want to…"

"Eh? Why not?"

Chibi Chibi's lips curved downward as she stared sadly at the recorder, "Onii-chan said that he didn't like his voice… and it'd bring back luck if Chibi Chibi listens to it… But Chibi Chibi thinks that Onii-chan has a nice voice. Chibi Chibi likes it very much… Onee-chan, is it wrong to listen to Onii-chan sings?"

Usagi smiled warmly, "There's nothing wrong with that. If Chibi Chibi really likes to listen to Seiya sings, then I'm sure he must be really good at singing."

"But, Mama even took the recorder and erased the song that Onii-chan once sang to Chibi Chibi… Mama hated it... saying it's bad for Chibi Chibi…"

"There's no such thing as a voice that would bring bad luck, Chibi Chibi. There are only people who don't know how to appreciate it… And your mother might just be one of them… So, there's absolutely nothing wrong with listening to Seiya sings. And, neither will it bring anyone bad luck…" Usagi convinced thoughtfully.

"Really?" Chibi Chibi asked, cheering up by a little.

Usagi nodded before smiling thankfully, "Yes, so ready to sleep now?"

Chibi Chibi shook her head, "Chibi Chibi wants to wait for Onii-chan to come back…"

"But, it's getting late…"

"Chibi Chibi can't sleep if Onii-chan doesn't sing for me..." She insisted.

Usagi dropped her head in defeat. As she had expected, it would take more than just a few good words to tempt Chibi Chibi into sleeping. For the next minute, Usagi continued to stare at the little girl who was now playing with her recorder before an idea came to her.

"Wait here…" Usagi told Chibi Chibi before disappearing out of the room.

She came back a moment later, carrying the last thing Chibi Chibi would have expected. Seiya's electric guitar. Usagi beamed at her surprise expression as she stepped into the room and sat down on the chair that was next to the bed.

"Shall I play you a song while we wait for Seiya to come back?" She suggested with a bright grin.

--

Shutting the front door behind him, Seiya slid off his shoes and shoved them uncaringly to the side. With midnight just around the corner, Seiya knew that he should be heading straight for bed, but strangely, he didn't feel the need to. He was so used to living a laborious life that he had long forgotten how it was like to feel exhausted.

Besides, with Chibi Chibi around, Seiya didn't think that he could have a peaceful rest even if he wanted to. He was positive that she was still awake and probably alone, waiting for him. He didn't think that Usagi was tolerant enough to stay and watch over his difficult cousin till this late. But as soon as he opened the door to the guest room, he found himself staring at an unimaginable sight.

Chibi Chibi was sound asleep with Usagi by her side, brushing a few bangs away from the little girl's face as she watched her sleep. She quickly turned to face Seiya when she heard him coming in and immediately placed the tip of her finger to her lips, reminding him that he should be quiet.

"She actually slept?" Seiya asked, barely whispering.

Usagi nodded and stood up quietly.

"B-But how…?"

She simply chuckled at his startled expression before replying softly, "A magic lullaby…"

"Magic lullaby?" He repeated, frowning a little in confusion.

A simple nod was the only response she gave him before a yawn escaped her mouth. She quickly covered her mouth, muttering something he couldn't make out against her hand. But judging from her tired gesture, she was most probably telling him that she needed to return home and catch some sleep.

Just when she was about to leave, Seiya stopped her as he reached into his pocket for his wallet. "I guess I should pay you more for-…"

But before he could even finish his sentence, Usagi had already reached out and grasped onto his wrist, stopping him from withdrawing any cash. Seiya lifted his head up and looked at Usagi, not getting her action, but she simply shook her head at him.

"You have already paid me…"

Within seconds, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion while his eyes widened from shock as he tried refreshing his memories but he couldn't recall ever paying her.

"Hmmm… You paid me with the spaghetti that you made this afternoon, remember? It was really delicious... even the leftovers that I had for dinner were good..." Usagi stated and pretended to think about it before smiling brightly, "Also, Chibi Chibi is such a sweet kid… I have such a great time playing with her…"

Seiya shook his head at her with a sigh, "All those are no compensation…"

"Of course they are." Usagi insisted with a smile. "Besides, I finally get to touch the guitar again. No, I mean, as part of my pay, I get to play your guitar… and thank to you, I even got the opportunity to sing my heart out. It felt so good… and that made me really happy. So, thank you, Seiya."

Seiya stood there, blinking at her joyful expression. He didn't understand why she was thanking him when clearly he had done nothing but be away with another woman. Still, her smile made his heart flutter, and for a moment there, all he wanted to do was to stare and admire this beauty before him.

He took a step back, refraining himself from hugging her when she casually waved good night to him before disappearing out of the room. The closing of the front door sounded a minute later, indicating that she had left to return to her home which was just next door.

"What am I thinking…?" Seiya sighed and shook his head, clearly all the unrealistic thoughts.

He turned around and kneeled down by the bed to check on Chibi Chibi, still finding it hard to believe that she actually slept without him persuading her to. For a moment there, he actually thought Usagi might have drugged or knocked her out with something till his eyes landed on the recorder that Chibi Chibi was hugging.

Carefully and slowly, Seiya took the tiny device over from her tiny arms only to realize that it was actually on a record mode. Without giving it a second thought, he hit the stop button and gave Chibi Chibi a light peck on her forehead before returning to his room.

Once inside, he turned his attention on the recorder in his hand, deciding to listen to whatever Chibi Chibi had accidentally recorded as he lay himself down on the bed and hit the play button. Immediately, Seiya's eyes lit up at the conversation between Usagi and Chibi Chibi that were being played.

He sat up, obviously interested in their on-going conversation, and found himself laughing a minute later after hearing what Usagi had told Chibi Chibi. Who was she to say such silly things when she didn't even know a single thing about him?

She was wrong…

…so wrong.

Yet, why?

Why was he still touched by her words? Why did he wish that he was the one she was telling these to instead of Chibi Chibi?

Maybe then, he would have agreed with her…

Closing his eyes, he dropped back down when the conversation had ended before his ears perked up again at the fine tune of music being produced by a piano. He lay there for a few seconds, listening to the soothing melody before it finally hit him.

There wasn't any piano in his apartment.

Again, Seiya shot back up from his spot on the bed after realizing that it was actually his guitar that someone was playing, but with such great technique that it sounded like an illusory production of a piano. And that person, who was able to freely manipulate the nature of a single note couldn't be Usagi, could it?

Just when he was about to think otherwise, the amazingly gentle tune was gradually overshadowed by what sounded like a voice from an angel.

_Have you heard of this wave…? _

_That drifts past the darkness and into the light._

_Ever and never end,_

_A magic lullaby._

Unconsciously, Seiya smiled to himself, figuring out what Usagi had previously meant by a magic lullaby. Her voice, he realized, was so beautiful, so delicate that he wanted to keep it all to himself. For once, he had found something that he didn't want to share with anyone as he possessively grasped onto the tiny device that continued to play her song.

_Ah…_

_Shut in another world,_

_You can't hear my voice…_

_No matter,_

_I__'m here now and I only sing to you,_

_This__ magic lullaby._

_It'll bear in your heart_

_And embrace you while you sleep_

_Do you feel the warmth now?_

_Please close your eyes…_

_And listen to my magic lullaby._

Now, her voice was the only thing that was ringing inside him. It was as though she had cast some magic into her song, metamorphosing all his worries into light, soft feathers, and leaving him feeling warm and comfortable for the first time. He soon shut his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep as the song slowly eased to a gentle end.

_Rnnnnngggg…rnnnnnnnnggggg_

Seiya groaned at the annoying vibration noise coming from his bed stand. Sure, it was morning already. But that didn't change the fact that he was tired and wanted to continue his sleep. Not wanting to wake up and answer the call, he squeezed his eyes shut and yanked the covers over his head. But the caller was persistent and his cell phone continued to ring for the next five minutes before Seiya finally gave in and answered it, sounding anything but pleased.

"What do you want?" Seiya demanded angrily.

Haruka, who was on the other end, sighed, "You should be asking your half-brother, Taiki Kou, what he wants for taking Usagi away and forcing her in his custody…"

--

* * *

--

Usagi awoke in a large, expensive looking room which she couldn't realize. She opened her eyes and stared at the three men who were presently standing before her bed until the signs of sleep faded from her face. Abruptly, she shot up and blinked a couple of times at them before rubbing her eyes in disbelief. When she opened them again and found that the men were still in front of her, she extended her finger towards them, almost shrieking, "Who are you people?"

"Sorry to have startled you like this, Tsukino-san. My name is Ryo Urawa. I'm Master Kou's personal secretary and the two of them are my associates who brought you over…"

"Eh?! Where? Why…?" Usagi stumbled on her own words as she glanced wildly at her surrounding, shocked to find that she wasn't in her room.

"You are now at the sub-mansion that was built for hosting the guests of Master Kou." Ryo answered briefly.

"And how did I end up in such a complicated place?!" Usagi shrieked, not getting a thing he was saying.

"You see, Master Kou have ordered us to invite you over this morning. But you didn't answer the bell when we got to your place. After breaking in, we found that you were asleep and tried waking you, but you didn't even stir. So, as ordered from Master Kou, I have my associates to carry you out of the apartment and drove you all the way here while you were asleep." He explained thoroughly.

"Don't go carrying others out of their homes when they are asleep!!"

Her angry scream was the first thing that erupted in that room before a few crashes, screams, cries, and whimpers were heard a moment later. Soon, the scene of the three badly beaten up men was replaced by Usagi slamming the door shut behind her.

"Why must everyone keep forcing me to get so work up in the morning?" She sighed angrily as her empty stomach let out a low growl of hunger.

"I'm hungry…"

Placing her hand against her flat abdomen, Usagi tried finding her way out as she continued down the long, deserted hallway that, from her point of view, seemed to extend forever. She let out a tired sigh, and would have given up on walking the endless path if her ears hadn't picked up the classical music that echoed through the hall that she was in.

Following the complex tune, Usagi sauntered down the stairs and through a few doors until she reached the main hall where a tall, young man sat, playing his huge grand piano at the centre of the room. She recognized who he was, but she didn't retreat. Instead, the wonderful composition that he was playing lured her over to him, making her gaped at him in amazement.

It was an extremely difficult piece, but he still managed to perfect every chords and lines so effortlessly that it made Usagi second guessed her absolute pitch ability to identify faults for a moment there. She clapped as soon as the grand composition came to an end, drawing Taiki's attention to her. Slowly, he peered up from where he was seated, his expression not showing any sign of surprise or pleasure to see Usagi standing there and applauding.

"I'm amazed! Your technique is excellent!" Usagi complimented before continuing thoughtlessly, "But it's a bit of a pity though…"

Taiki widened his eyes by a little, startled by her following statement.

"If you didn't dislike music so much… you'd have surpassed Makoto with that great masterpiece. It's a real pity…"

He stared at her, not letting his shock show. He wasn't concerned about who this Makoto person was, but rather how did she find out? A girl who had only met him once couldn't possibly know much about him, let alone any hatred that he had successfully hid in him for so many years.

He stood up and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Usagi, asking, "Who are you?"

His question brought back Usagi's frustration as she burst out abruptly at him, "You are the one who brought me here! Yet, you are asking me this?!"

Taiki continued to approach Usagi with a blank expression before he stopped right in front of her, and for a moment, they just peered unhappily at one another with silence hanging in the air.

"I've done some research on you, Usagi Tsukino. But it's sure funny. Besides your newly registered identity card, I couldn't find any of your personal information or past records... there's nothing…" Taiki muttered before stressing. "It's as thought you aren't part of this world at all…"

Usagi raised her eyebrows at him, looking surprised by his interpretation. Unlike Haruka or Seiya, who thought that she was just another teenager escaping from a broken home, this inconsiderate man before her couldn't be more right about her background. But she wasn't a girl who would give in to a kidnapper just because he could play the piano wonderfully well.

"So, you captured me here just because you couldn't find anything about me? I don't understand what you are thinking… I am just a normal high school girl, not someone particularly interesting or important who'd worth your time investigating on." Usagi shrugged, trying to look insignificant.

"Of course you are important enough…"

Startled by his remark, Usagi stared quietly at Taiki, watching him bent over so that he was at eye level with her. She remained silent, unaware of how close the distance between them was, which made Taiki smirked at the surprisingly calm reaction she was portraying.

"Anyone whom Seiya cares so deeply for is important enough, Tsukino-san…" He continued in a murmur.

"Eh? But Seiya doesn't care about me at all!" Usagi exclaimed quickly.

"He doesn't?" Taiki questioned, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Of course he doesn't!" Usagi insisted loudly. "You don't know how horrible he usually treats me! He orders me around, laughs at the things I do, and picks fight with me every single day! Like yesterday, he conveniently made me babysat his cousin for the entire night just because I happened to live next door! So how can you assume that he even cares for me when I'm just a babysitter to him?!"

"Babysitter?" Taiki repeated, trying to fight off a laugh without avail.

A muffled sound escaped Taiki's lips despite his effort to keep a straight face. Though he was perfectly aware that there was nothing funny about the things she said, he found her angry expression comical and her frustration entertaining. He stopped chuckling to himself shortly and looked back up to face Usagi who was now staring oddly at him.

She looked slightly offended but at the same time surprised by his warm expression. That look had somehow given her a better impression about him even though she still considered him rude and inconsiderate. She didn't know, however, that she was the first person he had laughed so honestly to. Still, his rare expression only wavered for a second as he quickly regained his cool composure he usually exhibited.

"Why are you still helping him then?"

Usagi sighed, "I don't have a choice. Besides, he offers to pay me…"

"He actually pays you?" Taiki questioned, his eyes widened a little in surprise, before he shook his head with smirk. "To think that he would pay a girl to stay by him… I wasn't wrong then. You are indeed someone important, Tsukino-san."

"I already said that-…"

"Even though you said that he's horrible to you, you still defended and stood up for him the other night." Taiki cut in shortly and silenced Usagi. "And he did the same to protect you. Now, what does that explain?"

"Hmm… That Seiya is good person after all?" Usagi answered innocently after a deep thought.

"Good person?" Taiki laughed sarcastically at her reply before he commented in a solemn sounding voice, "What's so good about a bastard who made used of girls to stay alive?"

Usagi frowned at his comment before retorting calmly, "At least, he doesn't go around kidnapping others while they are asleep. I think that's a whole lot worse…"

"Are you trying to say that he's better than me?" Taiki asked in an unintentionally angry tone.

"Eh? But, aren't you the one who thinks this way?" Usagi replied and folded her arms, seemingly unaware of his growing anger.

But her attention immediately jerked back to Taiki when he reached his hand out to grab onto her wrist, pulling her closer so she was looking directly into his eyes. "You are really silly to have said such brave things, Tsukino-san. Do you have any idea why I've brought you here today?"

"Breakfast…"

"What?"

"I don't know why you have brought me over, but I know I want my breakfast now…" Usagi sighed, not making any attempt to break loose from his hold as she felt her energy disappearing due to hunger.

Taiki blinked in surprise when he heard her stomach let out a loud growl. He released her, chuckling softly to himself for the second time that morning. "Interesting… You're really interesting…"

Usagi eyed oddly at Taiki, switching her view from his amused expression to herself in the attempt to find out what there was on her that fascinated him to make such comment. She didn't understand him and had no idea that he was feeling the same.

It was usually easy for a prodigy like him to understand whoever he came across in life, so why couldn't he catch a glimpse of who she truly was? She didn't look very bright, actually he thought she looked stupid, yet why were there so many mysteries in her that he couldn't lay his hand on? And now, he even found her adorable just by looking at her.

"I'm not a host who would starve my guest, Tsukino-san. I've already ordered the kitchen to prepare a good breakfast for you. It should be ready soon." He informed her with a smile.

"Really? But I've no money to pay you…" She muttered and bit her lips in fear that he wouldn't offer her anything to eat after learning that she couldn't pay.

Taiki smirked as an idea hit him, "I didn't have the intention to ask you to pay me. But since you've brought it up, I think I should consider asking something from you in return."

"Eh?!" Usagi gasped and dropped her jaw, making Taiki chuckled at her astonished expression.

"Master Kou, you have a visitor…" They heard a quiet voice announced.

Immediately, Taiki's expression turned cold as he glanced over to the entrance, seeing his fiancée, Ami Mizuno, standing behind a short maid. He nodded at her before ordering the maid to take Usagi over to the dinning room. Usagi followed without a word, exchanging a friendly smile with Ami as she left. After she was out of sight, Ami turned her attention back to Taiki who had went back to playing the piano.

"You don't look very happy to see me…" She began.

"Isn't our engagement arranged to maximize the benefit for both the Kou and Mizuno families? Between us, there will only be gain and no loss. So, why wouldn't I be happy to see you?" He replied in a straight face.

"But you were laughing a while ago-…"

"You didn't come all the way here just to hear me laugh, did you?" Taiki replied quickly, hitting on the next few notes.

Ami smiled gently, "No, but that was the first time I've heard you laughing so openly. I'm surprised. Usually, you wouldn't be in a good mood when I come over and would be playing the piano instead..."

"Actually, I never like playing it…" Taiki murmured as he pressed the keys forcefully down with his ten fingers.

Startled by the loud, hammered sound, Ami could only gape quietly at Taiki looking at his hands which were just above the keyboard as he added in a murmur, "For so many years, after winning so many awards and getting all sort of compliments… it's funny that no one has ever noticed how much I hated playing this musical instrument till now… And, I wonder... how she knew-…"

His voice stopped in mid sentence when he noticed the short maid, who was supposed to be escorting Usagi, running anxiously back into the room. Taiki stood up and raised his brows questionably at her as she tried to catch her breath before exclaiming, "Master Kou, your guest, Miss Tsukino, was taken by an intruder!"

--

"Follow me…" Seiya muttered, guiding her through the vast garden.

Usagi nodded and followed closely behind, holding his hand to make sure she didn't fall behind or get lose in the maze-like field. She cocked her head at him when he stopped to glance around the place carefully.

"But Seiya, why are you here?" She finally asked.

"To get you out of here, of course…" He answered quickly, looking back at her as if he was stating the obvious.

"But I haven't eaten my breakfast yet…" Usagi frowned slightly.

Seiya gave her an exasperated look before he buried his face in his hand and shook his head at her, "How can you willingly stay over at another man's place just because he offers you something to eat? What are you? A lost puppy?"

"I'm not a puppy! I'm just hungry!"

"That doesn't mean you have to agree to have breakfast with him! Can't you tell that Taiki Kou is up to no good?! He's not someone you should get close to!" He retorted.

"But he plays good music like you do…" Usagi replied in a strangely calm voice.

"What?"

Usagi nodded with a warm smile, "Even though he didn't enjoy it, he actually plays wonderfully well. And, I believe for someone who can produce such beautiful music, he can't possibly be a bad person."

"You're really hopeless…"

Seiya sighed, thinking through what she had just said, with an exasperated expression. He wasn't pleased that she was siding Taiki, but he couldn't voice out his frustration when she was looking so happily at him as though she was expecting him to understand her.

But, he couldn't do that. He couldn't agree with her when he had known Taiki longer than she did. That half-brother of his was devious and ruthless, but no matter what nasty things he did in the past, Seiya had never hated him as much as he did now after hearing what Usagi said. Then again, why was he so concerned and unhappy that she was defending Taiki? What was he thinking? He shouldn't even be here in the first place, let alone get all caught up by the things she did.

"Ah Seiya! Don't you have someone you need to meet today?" Usagi brought the question up as though she had just read through his mind.

He widened his eyes at her, staring at her in surprise for a second, before realizing that it was just a coincidence that she had mentioned something he was thinking. There was no way she could read his thoughts.

"You mean with Kakyuu-senpai?" Seiya asked before shrugging uncaringly, "Never mind about her. I can't possibly be in two places at one time, can I?"

"Eh? But wh-why? What about the money?" She inquired quickly, unable to believe that he had chosen to come get her instead of meeting Kakyuu.

"Of course, you will be taking full responsibility for all my losses today…" Seiya stated half-teasingly, guiding her down the stone stairs.

"What?! Me?!"

Usagi gasped, staring at Seiya in shock. But for once, he was quiet, too preoccupied to tease or argue with her about it. His ears perked up at the sound of quiet footsteps gradually growing louder. He quickly pushed Usagi against the thick tree she almost collided with, placing his finger to her lips wordlessly telling her to remain silent.

"They shouldn't be too far! Spread out and search for them!" One of the guards ordered.

As the men got closer, Usagi could feel Seiya leaned in towards her. He was so near that she could hear his rapid heartbeat and even smell the sweet scent of soap clinging on his skin. For some reasons, her cheeks began to burn and her heart raise rapidly as the seconds went by.

Seiya, on the other hand, kept his arms outstretched one on either side of her shoulders. Like her, he remained perfectly still, feeling her warm breath brushed against his neck. He did his best to focus on going unnoticed by the guards instead of her and how her radiance shone under the few rays of sunlight that managed to get passed the shade they were under.

Lucky for them, the search party headed towards the opposite direction, and once they were gone, Seiya quickly took a step back, looking at Usagi who was now clutching onto her chest as though she had just suffered from a heart attack.

"No good, Seiya! It must be because I'm too hungry, that's why my heart… it feels like it's about to burst out!" Usagi exclaimed anxiously, looking up at him with a dark red face.

Seiya was startled silent for a second as he tried to figure out a connection between her hunger and her heart. But before he could even comment on it, Usagi dropped wearily down on the ground, muttering something about how she was about to die of starvation.

He chuckled and bent over towards her, kneeling there at one knee so as to encourage her to gaze back at him. And as expected, Usagi's face shot up to his, and her cheeks began to burn again when he smiled charmingly back at her before reaching his hand out to place it on top of her head.

"Stop grumbling already. I'll prepare you something nice once we get back."

"Really? You are willing to make breakfast for me?! Usagi beamed excitedly.

Seiya nodded, "Only if you promise me that you'll stay away from Taiki Kou."

"Hai, hai! I won't go near him." She agreed and nodded keenly, making Seiya smiled at her.

"Can you walk back or do you need me to carry you?"

"I can walk on my own." Usagi answered as she tried getting back up on her feet only to lose her balance and fall into Seiya's arms.

Seiya sighed and took the opportunity to sweep her up into his arms carefully. Usagi gasped in surprise before struggling for a bit, not liking the idea of being carried.

"Put me down! I already said that I can walk on my own!"

"Shh…" Seiya hissed, trying to calm her down as he hurried across the field. "You will alert the men over to us again if you continue to make so much noise."

"Even if they come, I can outrun them…" Usagi argued in a softer tone.

"How? By falling?" He teased.

"I won't fall!"

"You just did."

Usagi gave him one of her best scowl but kept quiet, feeling unhappy that she had lost an argument between them. Seiya simply smile at that expression as he continued down the path that would lead them to the secret exit that he had came in through. For a moment, neither of them said anything, an awkward silence resting between them, until Usagi broke the stillness in a soft murmur.

"Thank you…"

Seiya looked down and blinked at her in surprise before grinning, "Did I hear you right? You didn't just thank me, did you?"

"Yes, I did. Even though I didn't ask for any of these, you still sacrificed an important appointment, came all the way here to fetch me, carried me, and even willing to cook for me. I can't be rude and overlook all that you did… "

Usagi replied and turned her head away from his smile, feeling displeased that he was always the one helping her. "Just wait… I will definitely repay everything to you one day…"

"You already did…" He told her with a smile.

Usagi turned to face him with a perplexed expression and stressed, "I did? When?"

"Last night." Seiya replied simply.

"Last night?"

"Your magic lullaby…" He muttered before smiling, "I want to hear you sing it again…"

Usagi was truly baffled now. But to his surprise, she didn't start questioning him like he had expected her to. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before a familiarly soft yet beautiful sound escaped from her lips. "_Have you heard of this wave…? That drifts past the darkness and into the light…"_

Seiya slowed down his pace to look down at Usagi singing to him. There was no mistake. It was the same voice, the same song, the same girl he heard last night. The only difference, he realized, was how much more amazing she sounded in reality. Her voice, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his entire life.

"…_I'm here now and I only sing to you, this magic lullaby…"_

Enchanted by her, Seiya smiled gently and decided to stay at where they were until she finished singing. The wind caught up, slowly drifting the lovely melody along with it, and soon reaching to a certain someone who had been watching them from his balcony, two stories up above.

For the first time in years, a warm smile came across his face as he continued to eavesdrop on her singing. His fiancée, along with every servant and man around him, were stunned silent by his gentle expression. If his previous order to end the pursuit on the couple hadn't shocked them, his next instruction definitely would.

"The academy that Tsukino-san had been posted to…" Taiki muttered after the song had ended.

"Y-Yes sir, she attends the same private high as Master Yaten and young Master Seiya…" His men answered quickly and straightened their posture the moment he turned around to face them.

"Good." He smirked subtly at them before adding, "Make an arrangement for me… I'm transferring over to join them…"

--

* * *

--

_The lyrics, Magic Lullaby, belong__ to me, please do not copy or distribute it. Thank you._

A/N: I'm only going to update chapter 3 of Stage On! upon requests, so please leave a review if you'd like to see another chapter. I promise there will more Minako x Yaten moments then. Also, do let me know if you would like me to update the NPA or Tale of the Zodiac. The one with the highest demand will get an update :). Thank you for reading!!

--


	3. Stage 3: For You

--

Last Chapter:

_Enchanted by her, Seiya smiled gently and decided to stay at where they were until she finished singing. The wind caught up, slowly drifting the lovely melody along with it, and soon reaching to a certain someone who had been watching them from his balcony, two stories up above._

_For the first time in years, a warm smile came across his face as he continued to eavesdrop on her singing. His fiancée, along with every servant and man around him, were stunned silent by his gentle expression. If his previous order to end the pursuit on the couple hadn't shocked them, his next instruction definitely would._

"_The academy that Tsukino-san had been posted to…" Taiki muttered after the song had ended._

"_Y-Yes sir, she attends the same private high as Master Yaten and young Master Seiya…" His men answered quickly and straightened their posture the moment he turned around to face them._

"_Good." He smirked subtly at them before adding, "Make an arrangement for me… I'm transferring over to join them…"_

--

* * *

--

**S****tage 3: For You…**

--

Yaten walked out of the classroom immediately after the bell rung, ignoring anyone who tried talking to him. He was in a foul mood. Actually, he had been irritated since he found out that Taiki had transferred over to his school. Though they weren't in the same class, since Yaten was a year older, the possibility that he might even have to see Taiki in school now, annoyed him. It was not that he hated this brother of his. Yaten just preferred to stay away from him.

Taiki was one of those rare individuals who had intelligence much higher than the average people. It wasn't easy understanding someone like him, and during all these while, no one, not even Yaten could figure out what was running through his mind or what his true intention was. He only knew one thing, and that there wasn't anyone in this world who wouldn't feel stressed around Taiki, a child who was born different from everyone.

But maybe he was wrong. There could be someone who couldn't be pressurized by him…

"Usagi-sama!!"

Almost immediately, Yaten turned around to face the source of the cry that seemed to be coming from the opposite end of the hallway that he was in. He watched, much to his displease, as Minako threw herself onto Usagi and embraced her.

"Usagi-sama! Thank you so much for lending me Blue Moon's 3rd album! I'm so mesmerized by all your songs that I replayed it for more than a hundred times already!" Minako shrieked happily.

"Thank you for supporting Blue Moon, Minako-chan. You can keep the CD if you like it so much." Usagi coughed a reply as Minako's grasp was practically choking her.

But lucky for Usagi, Minako released her instantly, her eyes widened with excitement sparkling inside them. "Really?! I can have it?! I can actually have something this great and powerful?!"

Usagi nodded and smiled awkwardly at her remark, "There's nothing great or powerful about it. I just happened to be carrying the album with me on that day when I met with a misfortune and ended up here."

"No, no! The album was amazing!" Minako exclaimed, ignoring her last remark. "Especially the theme song, Masterpiece, it's the most incredible song that I have ever heard! I love it so much! Can I try singing it? Can I use it as one of our band's song choice for the Tokyo's Music Blast audition next month?"

"Eh? The Tokyo's Music Blast?" Usagi blinked in surprise.

Minako nodded in excitement, "Hai! It's biggest audition of the year! And the winning band will get a contract with Cast Station, one of the country's top music recording company, and make a name for themselves in the music industry!"

"But your band is still short of a bass guitarist and a keyboardist to play any of our songs…" Usagi pointed out quickly.

"We are going to find the bass and keyboard players by the end of this month!" Minako declared with determination.

"Eh?!" Usagi exclaimed aloud, giving her a 'is that even possible' look.

Yaten continued to watch them from a distance, his expression showing slight displease. Just who was this Usagi Tsukino girl? He didn't understand why everyone was so attracted to her. First was his heartless brother, and now, even the persistent Minako who had always been crazy over him and his skill in bass, were going fanatical over her too? He couldn't see anything special in Usagi that would make him feel the same way. Sure, she was a little prettier than most of the average girls in school, but besides that, there wasn't anything particularly interesting about this girl that would catch his attention.

Not wanting to feel anymore irritated than he already was now, Yaten forced himself to walk away, leaving the two girls as they made their way to the music clubroom. But as soon as Minako opened the door, a loud and angry blast that came from an amplifier shot right through her ears.

She flinched and immediately covered her ears with both her hands while Usagi popped her head into the room, surprised to find that it was Seiya who were playing the electric guitar in an extremely fierce pace and volume. She could feel his anger flowing out from every melody line he played as she continued to stare at him in awe, wondering what or who had provoked him.

"We will never get pass the first audition if you keep playing like this, Seiya." Haruka shook his head with a sigh.

Seiya dropped his guitar and forced himself to smile sarcastically at Haruka, "So do you expect me to be happy and contented after spending an entire morning in, not only the same school, but in the class with my wonderful half-brother, Taiki Kou?"

Haruka shrugged, "Don't throw your tantrum at me. I wasn't the one who accepted him in…"

"But your father did." Seiya pointed out quickly.

"Yes, he did. But what do you expect my old man to do? Reject such powerful business magnate and risk getting the school shut down?" Haruka argued.

"And you think he won't do anything like that after you've accepted him in? How naïve..." Seiya commented thoughtlessly.

"Naïve? Who are you to be telling me that when _YOU_ are obviously the one and only reason why Taiki Kou would want to shut the school down? You shouldn't push the blame on others when you are clearly the cause of it, Seiya Kou." Haruka retorted as he flicked out his finger and jabbed Seiya in the chest three times.

Seiya reacted by slapping his hand away, his eyes hardened into a deathly glare. It was pretty obvious that a fight would have broke off then and there if Minako hadn't stepped in between her two friends and tried calming them down.

"Ah! Wait! Stop! Don't fight!" She interrupted them nervously.

She extended her both hands out at them, stopping them before they could lay hands on one another. Minako didn't want the clubroom to end up as an unrecognizable ruin of broken instruments and crumbled walls. Seiya remained awkwardly quiet for another minute or two, glaring at Haruka for one last time before he turned around and headed for the exit.

"Fine. Since I'm the cause of everything, I'll leave then..." He murmured with a straight face, ignoring even Usagi, as he walked past her and left the room.

"Seiya! Wait!" Minako called out and would have chase after him if it wasn't for Haruka who had stopped her from behind.

"Let him go. We don't need him in the band anyway." Haruka muttered in an almost bitter tone.

"What are you saying, Haruka? We can't possibly carry on without Seiya!" Minako exclaimed.

Haruka shrugged uncaringly, "What's the problem? There will be plenty of guitarists looking for a band with the audition drawing closer. We can find one to replace Seiya Kou easily. He isn't the only good one out there, you know?"

"But he's the only one who can play through the lines quick enough to compromise with your fast and irregular drumming habit."

Both Haruka and Minako turned to look at Usagi, surprised to hear such comment coming from her, while she just glanced back at them as if she was stating the obvious. Besides Seiya, few knew about Haruka's weakness. Not even Minako, who had heard him played for all these years, realized it, yet how could Usagi possibly knew when she had just heard him played once? Haruka was clearly missing the picture though since, unlike Minako, he knew nothing about Usagi's well-established profession as a musician and got no clue that she had perfect pitch.

But by the time Haruka was done feeling surprise and amazed, Usagi had already left the room to look for Seiya, leaving him behind with Minako who didn't seem pleased by the way he had handled the situation.

She scowled and folded her arms at him, "Are you still holding grudges against Seiya because of Michiru? It wasn't his fault that she had to transfer, you already knew that…"

"Why bring this up? It had already been a year now…" Haruka muttered with a sigh.

"Because I know that you've never liked Seiya ever since you got to know him from Michiru. You thought that he was after your girlfriend and even got her involved with the Kou family. No matter how much you admire his talent or try to deny it you still can't forgive him, can you?" Minako concluded in a serious tone.

Haruka sighed again and shrugged his shoulders, "Whether I forgive him or not, it still doesn't change the fact that Michiru's family had gone bankrupt and was forced by the Kous to leave the country just because they provided moral and finance support to Seiya Kou…"

"No! This isn't right! Michiru won't be happy if she finds out that Seiya is quitting the band! I won't be happy either! We can never be nearly as good as Blue Moon if we can't even keep one of the best guitarists in our band! It would be meaningless!" Minako exclaimed unhappily.

"Blue Moon? What are you talking about, Minako?" Haruka asked, narrowing his eyes questionably at her.

"I don't know how to explain it to you! But you have to bring Seiya back into the band no matter what!" Minako shrieked at him.

"You are getting on my nerve, Minako. It was his decision to leave. I wasn't the one who forced him to-…"

Haruka froze in mid sentence and was caught off guard as Minako tossed her school bag at him out of frustration. It hit him lightly on the chest before dropping to the ground, but neither of them paid any attention to it and made an attempt to pick it up.

"Forget it. And here I thought you were serious about starting a band that will one day overtake every music groups. But I guess I was wrong… I can never find my Blue Moon here and become the next Usagi-sama…" Minako finished sadly and hurried out of the room.

Feeling guilty, Haruka cursed and would have ran after Minako if hadn't notice her bag that was left opened on the floor. He bent over and reached out for the stack of papers that had slipped out from the bag, and was surprised to find an album cover buried beneath the papers that he was picking up.

"Blue Moon…" Haruka muttered, reading the band's name that was on the professionally packaged album.

Even though Haruka was certain that there wasn't any commercialized band in the music industry that called themselves that, it still triggered his curiosity especially since Minako had constantly brought the name up. He studied the cover of the album cautiously, switching his view from the band's logo to the faces of its five members, all elegantly stylized in a gothic fashion to suit its theme, _Masterpiece_.

Haruka narrowed his eyes, not recognizing any of these marvellous looking people, until he shifted his attention to the girl seated in the middle. Somehow, she looked like Usagi, but he couldn't be quite sure since the girl had hidden part of her face with the lacy hand-held fan that she was holding.

He decided to drop the matter, thinking that it was impossible that she could be Usagi. Slowly, he unfolded the cover and took the disc that was inside to insert it into a music player, unaware that what he was about to hear next was in fact a true masterpiece, one that would inspire a new dream in his life.

--

* * *

--

Minako ran out of the school building, refusing to look at anyone as she didn't want any of her friends or classmates to see her looking so down. She had always appeared to be hyper and cheerful in the eyes of those who knew her, but little did anyone know, her smile was just something to mask her sadness. Even so, she couldn't make herself hide this disappointment that had struck her so hard.

She wanted to be a singer, to start a band and be as good as Blue Moon, or at least half as good. At first, it was just another one of her unrealistic wish, but after getting into this new world and meeting Haruka and Seiya, she began to think otherwise. Not only were they brilliant in what they do individually, both of them shared the same passion as her when it came to music.

And if meeting them weren't lucky enough, fate even sent her idol, Usagi Tsukino, over to her side. To work in a band with her friends and idol, and with the Tokyo Blast audition just a month away, her path to achieving her dream seemed so realistic now, yet why? Why must it just end like this? She didn't want her band to fall apart, but there was nothing she could do to stop Haruka from holding anymore grudges against Seiya, or for Seiya to leave.

She felt helpless.

Minako stopped under a tree that was facing the school's racing track before she dropped down and sat there, ignoring the training that was going on between the Track and Field Club. She was perfectly fine with her self-absorbed attitudes. She wasn't in the mood to discuss her problems with anyone. That was, until the person who had been resting on the opposite side of the tree decided to voice out his presence.

"Hey, if you are going to cry, go somewhere else. I'm taking a nap here."

Minako flinched at the familiar voice behind her. Immediately, she turned around, surprised to find Yaten seated at the opposite side of the tree that she was under. He sighed and looked suspiciously at her as though he had expected her to scream his name or throw herself at him like how she would usually do, but to his surprise, she just murmured an apology and stood up. From the look of it, she didn't seem a bit happy to see him around, making Yaten frowned at her cold attitude.

"Oh, I understand. I am not needed now after you have Usagi Tsukino on your side…" He mumbled awkwardly.

His remarks brought Minako to turn back around as she blinked at him in confusion. If she hadn't known that he didn't favor her well enough, she would have easily guessed that he was jealous. She cocked her head at him, wondering what he could even be upset about.

Could it be that he didn't like Usagi? But why?

"Yaten-kun, you misunderstood Usagi-sama… I mean… I don't know what she has done to upset you, but I'm sure it must have been a misunderstanding…" Minako tried to explain further, but didn't know how she should continue when she was clearly not in the mood to be talking to anyone now.

"And…?"

"And?" Minako blinked.

Yaten sighed, "And what are you sulking over? Was it Usagi Tsukino who upset you?"

Minako widened her eyes a little at his question. Whenever there was a problem, she was usually the one who sought for him, and even though she knew that it irritated him to listen to her problems and worries, she'd still look out for him nevertheless. He was only the one she felt comfortable with, but she knew that he didn't feel the same. So, for the first that he had ever shown concern for her, Minako couldn't help but feel flattered by it as a tiny tear escaped and slid out from her eyes.

Yaten sat right up, his eyes widened at her teary ones, as though he was bothered by her tears. Minako struggled to recompose herself, rubbing her eyes against the sleeve of her uniform before she shook her head at him with a pleasant smile.

"I'm sorry… I thought you didn't want me here… I thought you were unhappy…" Minako muttered. "And no, it wasn't Usagi-sama who upset me… she didn't do anything…"

"So, who did?" He asked, trying not to sound too impatient to find out who was the culprit who had upset her.

Minako smiled and shook her head, "No… It's alright… I'm just upset because I can't see my dream coming true now…"

"Why not? By now, you should be able to play most of the bass line that I've taught you, and your vocal has improved greatly. So, what's the problem?"

"It's not that… I can't just play the bass or sing without a lead guitarist in the band…" Minako muttered.

"Lead guitarist? Don't you already have Seiya Kou?" Yaten inquired, frowning slightly.

"Seiya… he's quitting…" Minako muttered sadly.

Yaten sighed, "So this is what you're upset about?"

Minako nodded, "We won't be able to participate in the Tokyo Blast Audition without a lead player…"

The conversation ended with that statement. Minako kept her face down, trying to keep Yaten from seeing the misery in her eyes. But he was sharper than she had expected and could immediately tell that she was trying to hold back her tears. Somehow, it annoyed him to see her looking this sad because the Minako he knew had always been cheerful and optimistic, someone he never was or ever could be.

He sighed and got up on his feet, brushing off his pants as he made his way past her. "I'll take over the lead role if Seiya doesn't show up for the audition. So, stop looking so down… It's not like you at all…"

For a second, Minako just stood there with an expression of absolute surprise and disbelief. Wait. He didn't just say that he was willing to play in her band, did he? It was indeed hard to believe that someone as uncaring and unsociable as Yaten would voluntarily offer to be part of her music group, let alone join the Tokyo Blast for her sake. He had always told her and everyone else that he hated her. Yet why?

"Wa-wait! Yaten-kun…!" Minako turned around and called out to him. "Why? Why are you helping me?"

Yaten stopped walking, and was quiet for a moment, before he glanced over his shoulder at her, mumbling, "Because I don't understand…"

"You don't understand…?" She breathed softly.

Yaten nodded gently, "I don't understand why you are always working so hard for this so-called 'dream'. Why…? Even though you knew that it's impossible, why did you still put in so much effort and time in training your vocal and even went to the extent of begging me to teach you how to play the bass? Don't you think that it's silly?"

Minako smiled lightly at his remark as she shook her head, "It may sound silly or even absurd to you, Yaten-kun, but this is my second chance in life, so I'm not going to waste it feeling sorry for myself. There's someone I want to succeed, and this person is the one whom I've always admired and looked up to. She was always up there, shining ever so brightly on every big stage, while I was always below, staring up at her. But it's different now… we are both standing on the same ground, the same level... But what makes me really happy is that she supported me, telling me that it's possible, that I create my Blue Moon here. So, no matter what happen, I'm not going to give up on this dream. And, you shouldn't give up on yours too, Yaten-kun…"

Yaten stared blankly at her, taken aback by her last remark. He turned away from her and looked back straight when he saw her smiling warmly at him. "Don't associate me with you. I have never had a dream and I will never have one. Unlike you, my future has already been fixed since the day I was born…"

Minako shook her head slowly, still smiling, "That's not true. I believe that you too can choose the path which you want to pursue just like how you chose to console and help me out when I was upset. You are really a nice person after all, Yaten-kun."

Yaten stiffened and looked away with a flushed cheeks. "Don't get the wrong idea! I'm only doing this because you were so noisy back there, and you know how much I hate it when you start pestering me for help…"

He groaned and continued to murmur words of denial as he started to walk away from her. Minako giggled before she decided to run after him. She shouted out to him once more, catching his attention to stop as she leapt forward and embraced him from behind. Yaten gasped and found himself falling to the ground with Minako lying on top of him. He flipped to face her, cursing under his breath, while she just stared back at him with a wide smile on her face.

"Thank you, Yaten-kun!"

--

* * *

--

"It's no use following me, Odango. I'm never going back…" Seiya sighed and turned around to face Usagi.

Usagi folded her arms across her chest, "I'm not going anywhere until you agree to go back with me."

"And I'm in no mood to be arguing with you today. So go home already…" He tried waving her away.

"Why are you quitting?! The band can't do without you!" Usagi shrieked, ignoring his previous remark.

Seiya sighed another time, "You are persistent, aren't you?"

"I'm the band's manager! I have the right to know!" She insisted.

"Fine, fine…" Seiya muttered, finally giving in. "I'm quitting because I'm not needed in the band. There are plenty of better guitarists out there. It's easy to find a replacement for my role."

"That's not true." Usagi objected simply.

Seiya stared at her, looking a little surprise at the remark that she had just stated, while Usagi just glanced at him as though she was stating the obvious.

"No one can replace you." She added thoughtfully. "It's unique how you played the lead guitar lines which make you an extraordinary player in the band. But in order not to outshine the other members, you work to compromise with their pace and mode, and to do something with such high difficulties takes more than just practice. It takes lots of talent. So, you shouldn't quit. We won't be able to find another guitarist as gifted as you are around here…"

Seiya shook his head at her, "Odango, there are many things you won't understand. It doesn't matter whether I'm talented or not. The band will only get into more troubles with me around…"

"Eh? Why?" Usagi frowned at him.

"Because I'll only hurt those around me…" Seiya answered mysteriously as he turned away from her and continued to walk down the sideway, mumbling. "You should stay away from me too, Odango…"

"No way! I don't want to! How am I suppose to live without you?!" Usagi shrieked loudly, drawing his and a few bystanders' attention.

Seiya spun around and stared at her, his eyes widened with absolute surprise. It sounded like a confession of an undying love. At least, it did seem like one to the bystanders who were now whispering about the two of them, but considering that he had known her for quite some time now, Seiya could figure out that it was otherwise.

"Without you, I'll die of hunger, and that'll be beyond horrible! I don't want to die this way!"

While the rest of the bystanders almost fell over at her remark, Seiya threw her an exasperated look as he watched her raced up to him with a pitiful expression that she would normally exhibited whenever she was begging him for food. He didn't understand why the relationship between them had turned out to be this way, as though she was some stray little puppy or rabbit that he had picked up from the street to look after. Everyday, he would feed her while she would bark or whine at almost every single things he did. How annoying. Yet why? Why couldn't he just drive her away or ignore her?

Seiya sighed tiredly, and just when he thought he was coming down with a headache, his cell phone rang. He pulled out the small device from his pocket and answered it without hesitation.

"Hello, am I speaking to Seiya Kou?" The unknown caller asked.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Mr Kou, we are calling from the Mizuno Hospital. It's regarding your grandfather. An hour ago, he fell while climbing the stairs and was admitted to our hospital. We aren't able to reach his immediate family, and there are some administration documents that need to be settled. We hope you can drop by later to fill them up on their behalf."

--

* * *

--

"Ojii-san, are you alright?" Seiya asked frantically as he rushed into the room with Usagi following closely behind.

His grandfather sat on the bed with Chibi Chibi seated next to him. The little girl cheered when she saw them coming and insisted to be carried by Seiya as the old man greeted them with a smile.

"I'm fine, my boy. It's just a fracture. I'm sorry that I have to trouble you and Tsukino-san over…"

"No, no. Ojii-san, you are not troubling any of us." Usagi stated quickly on Seiya's behalf.

Seiya smiled at his grandpa as he held Chibi Chibi securely in his arms, "Yes, Ojii-san. I've talked to the doctor. He said that you will be fine as long as you rest in bed and don't move about on your own this few days. And, I heard from him that the hospital has just contacted Aunt Yoko, she should on her way here to pick you up."

"And you paid for the administration and medical fee, didn't you?" Grandpa guessed.

"It's just part of the administration procedure…" Seiya replied shortly with a smile as he tried to evade the topic by shifting his attention over to Chibi Chibi who was now clinging onto his uniform.

Usagi kept quiet, making no comment as she watched the old man shook his head at Seiya with a disapproving look. She could understand what he was upset about. Mizuno Hospital was the pioneer hospital in the capital with the best medical service and most expensive charges. Surely, Seiya must have spent most of everything he had to pay for the bills.

Money didn't grow on trees no matter how much everyone wanted them to. Work was the only way to earn money so he could support not only himself, but his mother and the relatives whom his mother was in debt to. Seiya had to do so much more, despite having to attend school, just to earn enough to finance all these people who, according to his grandfather, disregarded him.

She doubted that she'd be able to do that, and admired his capabilities for being able to accomplish it without a single word of complains. Now, she didn't know whether it was right of her to ask him to return to the band anymore. He could spend more time getting more jobs and earning more money if he didn't need to get involved in an unpaid activity. Still, she knew very well that Haruka's band wouldn't be able to make it far without Seiya, and as for her part, listening to his splendid performance had became the only thing that she truly enjoyed in this unfamiliar world.

"Have you paid a visit to your mother yet?" Grandpa asked Seiya.

Usagi widened her eyes at the statement, surprised to know that Seiya's mother was staying in this hospital.

Seiya smiled faintly, "No, but I'll visit her later…"

"Why don't you do that now, boy? Your aunt should be here shortly…" Grandpa suggested, not wanting Seiya to meet any one of his family and get insulted when he clearly didn't deserved it.

Seiya nodded nonchalantly, understanding his grandfather's intention.

"Chibi Chibi wants to go with Onii-chan!" The little girl shrieked as she continued to cling onto Seiya with all her limbs as if she was afraid that he would drive her away if she was to let go.

"You can bring her with you, my boy. It's been a while seen she last saw Yuina…" Grandpa gave his permission.

Chibi Chibi cheered, happy that they weren't going to leave her behind. Seiya, on the other hand, was feeling a bit reluctant. He didn't know if he was a good idea to let both Chibi Chibi and Usagi meet his mother, not knowing how they would react or how his mother would respond to their visit. He glanced over at Usagi who was following quietly behind, noticing that she hadn't been saying much to him ever since they arrived at the hospital. But for now, he decided not to comment on it as he continued to lead them down the quiet hallway to room number 703 which lay at the end of the corridor.

He paused outside of the door, hesitating a little before opening it, and revealing a large soundproof room that was furnished with a fine black couch before a thirty inch television, and a piano at its corner. But instead of admiring the musical instrument like how she'd always do, Usagi found herself staring the woman who was seated on the regular hospital bed that was located in the middle of the room.

The woman, as fragile as she looked, was very beautiful. She had thick, wavy, long gold hair and a mysteriously beautiful set of dark blue eyes that reminded Usagi of Seiya's. She looked like an English doll, and anyone would have easily thought she was no older than twenty if Seiya hadn't addressed her as _mother_ as he made his way across to her.

"Seiya, you came…" She responded with a smile and held her hands out to him.

Her smile looked a little empty to Usagi, but, nonetheless, it still lit up her face. Usagi continued to remain quiet as she watched how Seiya placed Chibi Chibi gently down on the empty chair that was next to his mother's bed and accepted her hands into his. For a moment there, it looked like a nice little reunion between a mother and son until his mother caught sight of Usagi standing by the doorway.

"And is this lovely lady over there your girlfriend?" She asked with a smile.

"You can put it that way…" Seiya answered simply much to Usagi's exasperation.

She opened her mouth in an attempt to oppose his proclaim, and would have done so if his mother hadn't asked her for her name. Usagi's attention flew back to the woman on the bed, gasping when she realized that she hadn't introduced herself to her.

"My name is Usagi Tsukino. It's my pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." Usagi answered politely.

"You can call me Yuina…" His mother smiled.

Usagi nodded, "Hai, Yuina-san…"

Yuina chuckled quietly before she turned back to look at Seiya and commented, "Your girlfriend is very pretty and really polite…"

Seiya smiled quietly at the remark while Usagi looked away with a blush. She didn't want his mother to have the wrong impression of her relationship with Seiya, but she knew it was too late to correct this false assumption especially when Yuina had turned her attention over to Chibi Chibi who didn't look very pleased to see her.

In response, the little girl glared at Yuina, giving her the usual 'don't bully Onii-chan' look. She moved away from Yuina when she tried to pat her and hid herself behind Seiya's arm.

"It's alright now, Chibi Chibi…" Seiya told her gently.

"Really? Aunt Yuina is not going to bully Onii-chan no more?" Chibi Chibi asked worriedly.

Her question surprised Usagi as she didn't believe that Yuina would do anything to hurt Seiya. Thinking that it was just the little girl's false impression, Usagi decided to help Seiya convinced her, not wanting Chibi Chibi to start an outbreak because of her high anxiety.

"Chibi Chibi, remember what I've told you the other night? No one is going to bully Seiya." Usagi told her calmly, patting her on the head.

Chibi Chibi looked up at Usagi smiling down at her and thought through her words. She nodded, much to Seiya's surprise, and relaxed a little. He didn't know why or how, but Chibi Chibi seemed to trust Usagi quite a lot lately, and would often listen to her instruction. She even requested Usagi to guide her to the restroom a minute later, something she wouldn't usually do even when she was with her parents because she claimed that she was old enough to find and go to the restroom on her own. But this time, she wanted someone to accompany her as she disliked hospitals and didn't like wandering round the place very much.

"You sure you don't need me to go in with you?" Usagi asked the little girl the moment they arrived by the entrance of the washroom.

Chibi Chibi nodded, "Chibi Chibi is a big girl. She can go on her own."

Usagi smiled and patted her on the head, "Ok. But be careful alright?"

With that, Chibi Chibi stepped inside the female restroom, leaving Usagi to wait outside. She leaned against the wall that was facing the restroom entrance, ignoring the few people who entered and exited until her eyes caught sight of a particular man stepping out of the men's restroom.

He smirked when he noticed her standing there and made his way across to her. Usagi flinched, taking a few steps back, and extended her index out at him anxiously.

"Yo-You, You… Taiki Kou! Why are you here?!" She practically shrieked at him.

"You actually want to know why a man needs to go to the restroom?" Taiki answered with a faint smile, deciding to tease her for a bit.

"I'm not asking why you were in the restroom! And wait! Stop right there! Don't come any closer! Usagi snapped at him as she took a few steps back, still demanding, "No, No! Two meters away! Two meters away from me!"

Taiki took a step forward and stopped, "Tsukino-san, you should stop backing from me. We are exactly two meters away now."

"Really?" Usagi asked as she stopped moving and eyed suspiciously at him.

"You can measure it with a tape if you don't believe me." Taiki suggested coolly.

Usagi folded her arms across her chest and turned away from him in exasperation, "Don't have to. I am not breaking my promise as long as I am standing a distance away from you."

"So I was right then. Seiya Kou did really put a collar around you to prevent losing you to another man." Taiki concluded calmly, gesturing at her neck.

"What are you saying? I'm not a dog! And he has never used any collar on me!" Usagi exclaimed, clearly not getting his interpretation.

"It's fine if you don't understand. I'll soon break that collar of his." He added cleanly.

Usagi frowned at him, getting more confused by the minute. "I don't know what you are saying, but I won't let you abduct me this time. I'm fully awake now and I can outrun you."

Taiki smiled lightly, "Interesting, but don't worry, I'm not here to kidnap you. I won't have to do it myself if I really intended to."

"True, you would have ordered a few men to do it like how you did the previous time." Usagi muttered and nodded to herself before she shook her head, realizing that she shouldn't be agreeing with him.

"Never mind. Why are you here at the Mizuno Hospital then?"

"Why shouldn't I? I owned part of the Mizuno Hospital after all." Taiki answered simply.

"Eh?! You what?" Usagi exclaimed in disbelief.

She clearly didn't know that the Kou Organization had become one of the Mizuno Hospital's shareholders after its executive vice president, Taiki Kou, agreed to the arranged engagement between him and Ami Mizuno, the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Mizuno Medical Organization. While the Kou Organization could get a huge sum of profit, the Mizuno Organization could earn better recognition and reputation with the famous Kous as its partner, making the arranged marriage unquestionably beneficial for the two families.

"Bad guy! Bad guy!"

Both Usagi and Taiki turned their attention over to Chibi Chibi who started running out from the entrance of the restroom. She stopped a close distance before Taiki and pointed her little finger at him with a frown.

"Bad guy! Don't bully Onee-chan!"

"No, Chibi Chibi, don't go near him!" Usagi exclaimed as she raced forward and swept the little girl into her arms without realizing how close she was standing before Taiki at that moment.

Taiki smirked devilish, "Ah… Less than a few inches away. It looks like you have broken your promise, Tsukino-san. I wonder how I should inform Seiya Kou about this."

"Eh?! Wa-Wait! This isn't fair!" Usagi exclaimed as she attempted to jump a few steps back but Taiki beat her in this game.

He reached his hand out to grab her by the wrist, pulling her back to him and holding her there so she wouldn't get the chance to go anywhere.

"I told you that I'll break this collar of his, didn't I?" He breathed to her, making Usagi narrowed her eyes at him, still not getting what he was trying to put through.

"Bad guy! Bad guy! Don't bully Onee-chan!!" Chibi Chibi shrieked in protest, swinging her arms and attempting to drive Taiki away from Usagi.

He smiled plainly at the little girl as his fingers slowly freed themselves from her thin wrist. Without further hesitation, Usagi pulled away, releasing herself from his grip. Though she didn't know what his intention was, she was irritated by the fact that he had tricked her into breaking her promise which she had with Seiya. She couldn't afford to have Seiya learning about this and not preparing anymore meals for her! She would starve to death! And the idea of dying from hunger was simply too frustrating to contain.

Angered by the thought of it, Usagi made an attempt to glare at Taiki and would have throw her frustration out at him if she hadn't notice a group of doctors and nurses rushing into room 703.

"Seems like she has turned unstable again…" Taiki muttered with a blank expression.

Usagi frowned at his remark, but decided not to ask about it as she hurried back to the room without a second of hesitation and flinched at the scene that she had caught sight of.

Yuina was standing on top of her bed, yelling and cursing Seiya, as the doctors and nurses attempted to calm her down with no avail. She appeared to be a completely different person right now. Not only was she emotionally unstable, the hatred in her eyes were so evident that it made Usagi questioned herself on whether she was seeing the same person that she had just talked to a moment ago.

"It's all your fault! Why?! Why do you have to take everything away from me?! If it wasn't for you, I would have become a singer! I would have lived my dream! I wouldn't have to lose everything! My career… my future… my happiness… It's you! You are the one who took everything from me!" Yuina screamed, gesturing her index finger at Seiya while the nurses tried to hold her back.

Usagi held her breath, not believing what she had just heard, but to her surprise, Seiya remained awkwardly calm, his blank expression giving none of his thoughts away.

"Ever since she suffered from Amusia, she has been acting like this…" Taiki, appearing from behind of Usagi, told her. "It's useless… no one can do anything about it…"

Usagi kept quiet and did not comment on his remark. It seemed like no one could make her take her attention off Seiya right now, not even with Chibi Chibi struggling and crying in her arms. She continued to watch as Seiya looked calmly back at his mother like this wasn't his first time seeing her burst out at him.

"…if only you hadn't been born, I could have been so happy!" His mother continued loudly.

Her harsh remark didn't seem to upset Seiya as he smiled subtly back at her, "Mother, why did you give birth to me then?"

"Why…?" His mother muttered, seemingly to have calmed down by a little from the question as she allowed the nurses to haul her down from the bed.

"…Because he said that he'll still love me… that he'll support me, but he lied. He stopped seeing me after you were born, and it was then when I realized that I was abandoned… He didn't want me anymore. But, I tried convincing myself that it was alright… that I can live without him. But why? Why did you have to look so much like him? Why did you call out to me back then…?" She paused abruptly, her voice cracking in the middle as she covered her face with both her hands, sobbing.

"If you hadn't called me, I wouldn't have crossed the road… I wouldn't have gotten into that accident, and suffer from any brain damage! Do you have any idea how torturing it is when you can't even tell whether the things you are hearing are musical or not? Everyday, I would attend those therapies that I don't even know if the people there were singing or talking to me! Do you know what it's like to be unable to distinguish musical pitch, intervals, rhythm, and you couldn't write a single musical notes anymore?! You won't know! No one would! Because unlike me, they are able to listen to music! But, I've lost the ability to… I've lost everything… I couldn't sing anymore! I couldn't even recognize or process music! And it's all because of you! You are the one who took the two most important things away from me! I hate you! I hate you so much…"

Yuina ended everything with that statement, dropping to the ground with her hands over her face as she continued to sob miserably. Seiya softened his eyes at his mother, as if the pain she was feeling affected him as well. For a brief moment, no one made a sound, and the silence between each interval of his mother's sobs was deafening, louder than a thousand gunshots.

-Ding-

All of the sudden, a soft jingle echoed as everyone turned towards the light sound that magically came alive at the midst of the overwhelming silence. Their eyes widened with surprise. There, at the corner of the room, sat Usagi by the piano as she let her fingers travelled slowly down the keys, creating a gentle wave of melodic line. Her soothing melody spread, touching the hearts of everyone in the room. It was as though she had cast some magic into the keys she played, making Taiki smirked like it was something he had wanted to happen. Even Yuina raised her head up to stare, her ears picking up every single note and arranging them in an orderly sequel.

Soon, her delicate voice emerged, accompanied by a heart wrenching song…

_Even though you can no longer pursue__… _

…_the continuation of your dream, _

_I'll fulfil it for you… _

_The truth is,_

_I feel like shouting so you can listen to me sing…_

_But it's alright if you couldn't_

_For I know you can feel it._

No one understood why but the warmth that could be felt throughout her performance was enough to make anyone feel like crying. Like usual, her beatific voice was the only thing that was left ringing inside everyone's head as she continued to sing together with the enchanting melody.

_I have things left to do_

_Because I want to try redoing them for you…_

_Do you know that...? _

_I'm always grateful for your kindness_

_So I want to become stronger_

_There aren't tears at the end of the sins…_

_So even though I know you couldn't,_

_I wish you'll continue to hear me out, _

…_because it can be done, safe and sound._

_Just for you._

The song slowly came to an end, leaving a few light notes echoing across the room. Usagi lifted her fingers away from the keyboard as she turned around to face her audience who were startled speechless by her performance. She smiled when she noticed Yuina looking back at her with tears surfacing in her eyes.

"As long as you still can hear , someday, you'll be able to enjoy music like how you used to…" Usagi stated, smiling gently. "…because Yuina-san isn't deaf, right?"

For a brief moment, all Yuina, and the rest of the people in the room, could do was stare back at her, taken aback by her remark. Seiya, on the other hand, widened his eyes when he noticed a tiny tear slid down from his mother eyes as she muttered in a barely audible voice, asking, "May I… May I listen to it again…?"

Usagi smiled as she extended her hand out to her, "Shall we play it together then?"

--

* * *

--

The afternoon slowly came to an end with evening just an hour away as Usagi stepped out of the entrance of the hospital, feeling extremely exhausted and hungry.

She sighed, "I'm starving…"

"I'll prepare a grand dinner for you as my token of appreciation." Seiya smiled at her.

"A grand dinner?! Really?" Usagi clapped, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Seiya nodded with a smile, "I have to thank you. Ever since the accident, my mother has lost all interest in almost everything around her… This is my first time seeing her showing such affection for something she once loved. You're amazing, you know that?"

"Eh?" Usagi gasped, caught in surprise by his sudden compliment.

"That song you sang back there… It's beautiful… but I don't remember hearing it from elsewhere before." He muttered, indirectly asking for its source.

"That's because I was the one who wrote it." Usagi pointed out proudly.

"I should have guessed…" Seiya replied, grinning to himself. "First it was the Magic Lullaby, and now this song…?"

"For You…" Usagi answered, beaming. "The title is For You… It's the first song I've wrote on my own."

"You wrote it for someone?" Seiya guessed.

Usagi nodded but didn't say further. Instead, she just walked past him and looked up at the orange-colored sky with a subtle smile on her face. Seiya could tell that she was thinking about that person even though he didn't know who it might be.

For all he knew, she could have written it for her lover, and there was a relatively high possibility to support his assumption judging from the way the song was written and sung. Or it could be for a special friend, since there wasn't any expression of romance throughout the song. Even though he didn't understand why, he was hoping that it was the latter. Somehow, it annoyed him tremendously to think that she was going to leave him someday for a guy whom she knew before him.

"It's for my mother…" Usagi finally replied in a murmur.

"Oh…" Seiya responded, trying not to let his feeling of relief show.

"She was the one who introduced me to the piano and the other music instruments. She taught me what they were, accompanied me through all my lessons and practices, and at times, she would attempt to write simple lyrics with me." Usagi continued, smiling faintly. "And, she always looked so happy whenever I play a song for her even though I knew that she couldn't hear any of it…"

Seiya widened his eyes a little at her last remark, muttering, "You mean, your mother, she's…"

Usagi nodded, smiling sadly, "…She's deaf."

Immediately, his expression softened at hers as if he could feel what she was feeling right now. In some way, he could relate himself to her. Not only did the both of them have the same passion and interest for music, they shared the same desire as well, a simple wish for their mothers to hear them out through the things they loved doing the most. This was probably why she chose to perform and play this song for his mother back there. Maybe his mother had reminded Usagi of hers, but unlike him, she was loved and cherished by her family, and judging from the content of the lyrics, she had probably achieved that wish of hers through this song as well.

"Your mother, she must have felt it… the message that you wrote for her in the song… " He told her, smiling gently.

Usagi peered at him with bewildered eyes for a second, not expecting him to say this. Why? This guy whom she barely knew for a few months and was always out to tease and annoy her, why was he able to tell her the things she wanted to hear most? Why was he able to reassure her with just a few simple words and made her heart feel at ease?

"Now that I think about it, this is the first time you've told me anything about yourself and your family…" Seiya pointed out, interrupting her train of thoughts, before he decided to tease her for a bit. "…So, did you or did you not run away from home and got lost?"

"I didn't run away or got lost! I was forced to come here by fate!" Usagi shrieked at him.

"By fate?"

He looked questionably at her, and could see her face tensed up with anxiety like she had just realized that she had told him something she shouldn't. She took a deep breath and quietly looked at him before sighing, "You won't understand even if I explain it to you. Just know that I didn't want to be here."

"Does this mean that you'll leave one day?" Seiya asked in a murmur.

"Of course, I will!" Usagi replied honestly, turning away from him. "I don't belong here, and there's nothing and no one here that would make me want to stay for a minute longer…"

"I see…" He murmured softly.

"But it's not like it concerns you-…" Usagi paused as she turned around in time to catch a glimpse of sadness that had just flashed past his midnight blue eyes.

Immediately, Seiya looked away, averting her gaze as he proceeded past her without another word. A tight knot formed across his chest twisting around painfully. Why did it hurt him so much to know that she would leave one day? It didn't make any sense to him since she was just another girl whom he could stop seeing whenever he wanted to, right?

No, she wasn't.

She wasn't like the many other girls around him who paid him to accompany them. She was a lot stranger, much more difficult, and a whole lot more stubborn especially when it came to picking an argument with him in whatever he did. But, on the other hand, there were times where she would appear to be like an angel, shielding him from all his problems with just her voice alone and smiling for him. It was ironic how she'd often claim to dislike and disagree with him, but would still end up defending him. There was no way he wouldn't feel comfortable and at ease around her when she often poured him with such warmth that was lacking in his life. But this could be his one-sided feeling as she would probably never feel the same way about him.

That was what he thought until he felt her tugging him by his sleeve.

He turned to look at her and she broke eye contact with him the moment he did, looking slightly down to her side with a light blush flashed across her cheeks, "I like the food here… I might want to stay for that…"

He widened his eyes at her, taken aback by her remark as she quickly dashed past him, reminding him that she was terribly hungry and urging him to hurry up before she starved to death.

"You're so not cute, you know that?" Seiya stated, trying to cover up his little joy by teasing her.

As expected, she shrieked at him again for the false insult, and he smiled at her angry expression, making him believed that maybe, just maybe, she would feel the same for him one day.

--

* * *

--

Minako sat in her room impatiently, wishing that Haruka would come to return her the bag that she had left behind already. It hadn't struck her that she had forgotten about her bag until arriving home that evening, and she was anxious to get it back as she couldn't risk having anyone looked through it and discovered the album that Usagi had gave her.

She jumped up from her seat when she heard a knock on her door, and immediately rushed over to open it, smiling in relief to see Haruka standing behind a short maid who had escorted him over. Without a second of hesitation, she waved the maid away and pulled Haruka into the room.

"My bag, where is it?" Minako demanded after closing the door behind them.

Haruka remained quiet, not saying a single thing, as he handed the bag over to Minako as she quickly took it and began digging into it only to frown when she couldn't find the thing she was searching for.

"Are you looking for this?"

Minako's face shot up to Haruka's, and her eyes widened at the blue disk casing that he was holding in his hand.

"You looked through my bag?! That's so rude of you!" Minako snapped at him.

"I didn't. It fell out..." Haruka replied coolly.

"Give it back to me!" She demanded and tried reaching out for it, but Haruka simply lifted it higher untill it was a good distance away from her reach.

After a few attempt of jumping about to get the album, Minako finally gave up and glared unhappily at Haruka who had turned his attention to admire the group of musicians that were photographed on the disc cover.

"Blue Moon huh? I'm jealous. What admirable talents each of them have…" He muttered before looking back down at Minako.

"Mind telling me more about them?"

--

* * *

--

_The lyrics, For You…__, belong to me, please do not copy or distribute it. Thank you._

A/N: Like usual, I'll only update upon request, so do leave a review if you want to read the next chapter. I've been really busy lately and won't have time to write here so please be patient and bare with me for not updating as much :(. And to the readers who requested this chapter to be up on their birthdays, I'm sorry that I couldn't post it up on the dates itself. I wish the two of you a happy belated birthday and thank you for your keen interest in my stories and for reading them. I hope every one of you have enjoyed this chapter :).

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